Kurt Vonnegut Quotes

And one thing to be remembered: it is not that the people who are poor, starving, become frustrated with life - no. They cannot become frustrated. They have not lived yet - how can they be frustrated? They have hopes. A poor man always has hopes that something is going to happen - if not today then tomorrow, or the day after tomorrow; if not in this life then in the next life.

Ultimately, I think people are so hopeful for having some joy in life that is really hard to find. You can't make a living, and the idea of doing one small bank robbery or something, just trying to find your way in a life, finding your footing and ending up behind bars.

By-and-large, these are families that are just waiting to get out of here. They are frustrated; I would be, too. I get frustrated at the cash register counter when the paper runs out.

There's this huge number of desperate people.

Poverty makes you wise but it's a curse.

The greater part of humanity is too much harassed and fatigued by the struggle with want, to rally itself for a new and sterner struggle with error.

There are just way too many people suffering out there.

I didn't have life that good coming up. I wasn't born with a lot of money. We weren't dirt poor, but we weren't rich. All I knew was struggle.

I've lived in poverty.

I was poor my whole life.

Poverty ennobles no one; it brutalizes common people and makes them hungry and old.

Drudgery, calamity, exasperation, want, are instructors in eloquence and wisdom.

Poor people always lose in struggles.

Poverty is a lot like childbirth - you know it is going to hurt before it happens, but you'll never know how much until you experience it.

I travel around the world, experiencing every language, every religion... some places where there's just no reason to smile, because their lives are so difficult.

Poverty of course is no disgrace, but it is damned annoying.

I came from nothing. We didn't have money, so I started work at 14 because I really needed the money.

I am open-eyed about what poverty does to people.

I came from abject poverty. There was nowhere to go but up.

I was starving before I hit Journey. Very, very rough times... I didn't know where the next pay check was gonna come.

I think most art comes out of poverty and hard times.

Poverty is the worst form of violence.

Poverty is a veil that obscures the face of greatness. An appeal is a mask covering the face of tribulation.

Poverty makes you sad as well as wise.