William Owen

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My Heart Is a Cha...
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Kurt Vonnegut Jr.
“I concluded that my mind was so ordinary, which is to say empty, that I could never be anything but a reasonably good camera.”
Kurt Vonnegut, Bluebeard

Kurt Vonnegut Jr.
“America is the wealthiest nation on Earth, but its people are mainly poor, and poor Americans are urged to hate themselves. To quote the American humorist Kin Hubbard, 'It ain’t no disgrace to be poor, but it might as well be.' It is in fact a crime for an American to be poor, even though America is a nation of poor. Every other nation has folk traditions of men who were poor but extremely wise and virtuous, and therefore more estimable than anyone with power and gold. No such tales are told by the American poor. They mock themselves and glorify their betters. The meanest eating or drinking establishment, owned by a man who is himself poor, is very likely to have a sign on its wall asking this cruel question: 'if you’re so smart, why ain’t you rich?' There will also be an American flag no larger than a child’s hand – glued to a lollipop stick and flying from the cash register.

Americans, like human beings everywhere, believe many things that are obviously untrue. Their most destructive untruth is that it is very easy for any American to make money. They will not acknowledge how in fact hard money is to come by, and, therefore, those who have no money blame and blame and blame themselves. This inward blame has been a treasure for the rich and powerful, who have had to do less for their poor, publicly and privately, than any other ruling class since, say Napoleonic times. Many novelties have come from America. The most startling of these, a thing without precedent, is a mass of undignified poor. They do not love one another because they do not love themselves.”
Kurt Vonnegut, Slaughterhouse-Five

Eugene O'Neill
“There is no present or future-only the past, happening over and over again-now.”
Eugene O'Neill, A Moon for the Misbegotten

Henry David Thoreau
“No man ever stood the lower in my estimation for having a patch in his clothes: yet I am sure that there is greater anxiety, commonly, to have fashionable, or at least clean and unpatched clothes, than to have a sound conscience.”
Henry David Thoreau, Walden or, Life in the Woods

Isaac Asimov
“Anti-intellectualism has been a constant thread winding its way through our political and cultural life, nurtured by the false notion that democracy means that 'my ignorance is just as good as your knowledge.'
Isaac Asimov

4738 Rothfussians — 4511 members — last activity Jun 05, 2025 06:59AM
Patrick Rothfuss needs a goodreads.com group! For fantasy fans and anyone that appreciates beautifully written books. Discuss The Name of the Wind, T ...more
233 ¡ POETRY ! — 22584 members — last activity Dec 24, 2025 01:37PM
No pretensions: just poetry. Stop by, recommend books, offer up poems (excerpted), tempt us, taunt us, tell us what to read and where to go (to read ...more
4729 PICADOR — 21 members — last activity May 12, 2008 07:07AM
Books published by PICADOR USA.
80082 Warren Ellis: Q&A Experiment — 462 members — last activity Jan 08, 2014 09:42AM
This is a group for fans of Warren Ellis. Join us on Thursday, August 15th for a special discussion with author Warren Ellis! Warren will be discuss ...more
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