Vonnegut, Kurt, Jr. -- Letter (1992-10-16) to Robert Maslansky

Dave — Mon, 04 Nov 2024 22:09:58 +0000

I told her that what made being alive almost worthwhile for me was all the saints I met almost anywhere, people who were behaving decently in an indecent society.

Kurt Vonnegut, Jr. (1922–2007) American novelist, journalist
Letter (1992-10-16) to Robert Maslansky

Phrases used in a number of places by Vonnegut, often as his reply when a woman wrote him to ask if it were right to bring a child into a world as bad as this one; he then encouraged his readers or listeners to become a saint for that child. He also used the phrase to describe the underlying theme of his writing.

Other variants:

I replied that what made being alive almost worthwhile for me was the saints I met, people behaving unselfishly and capably. They turned up in the most unexpected places.
[Timequake, ch. 62 (1997)]

I replied that what made living almost worthwhile for me were the saints I met. They could be anywhere. They were people who behaved decently in an indecent society.
[Kevin Alexander Bacon, ed., At Millennium's End: New Essays on the Work of Kurt Vonnegut, Foreword (1998-11-11) (2001)]

What makes life worth living are the saints I meet -- they can be long-time friends or someone I meet on a street. They find a way to behave decently in an indecent society.
["Vonnegut Unbound," Interview by Christopher R. Blazejewski, The Harvard Crimson (2000-05-12)]

I replied that what made being alive almost worthwhile for me, besides music, was all the saints I met, who could be anywhere. By saints I meant people who behaved decently in a strikingly indecent society.
[Lecture (2003-09-22), University of Wisconsin, Madison; reprinted in "Knowing What's Nice," In These Times (2003-11-06)]

What makes life worth living are the saints. You meet saints everywhere. They can be anywhere. They are people behaving decently in an indecent society.
[Frequently quoted version]

Hoffer, Eric -- Passionate State of Mind, Aphorism 37 (1955)

Dave — Mon, 21 Nov 2011 13:20:51 +0000

Whenever we proclaim the uniqueness of a religion, a truth, a leader, a nation, a race, a part or a holy cause, we are also proclaiming our own uniqueness.

Eric Hoffer (1902–1983) American writer, philosopher, longshoreman
Passionate State of Mind, Aphorism 37 (1955)

Shakespeare, William -- King John, Act 4, sc. 2, l. 30ff (4.2.30-34) (1596)

Dave — Wed, 12 May 2004 19:34:55 +0000

PEMBROKE: And oftentimes excusing of a fault
Doth make the fault the worse by th’ excuse,
As patches set upon a little breach
Discredit more in hiding of the fault
Than did the fault before it was so patched.

William Shakespeare (1564–1616) English dramatist and poet
King John, Act 4, sc. 2, l. 30ff (4.2.30-34) (1596)

WIST Quotations

Vonnegut, Kurt, Jr. -- Letter (1992-10-16) to Robert Maslansky

Hoffer, Eric -- Passionate State of Mind, Aphorism 37 (1955)

Shakespeare, William -- King John, Act 4, sc. 2, l. 30ff (4.2.30-34) (1596)