# Kurt Vonnegut ![[2025-08-23_Kurt_Vonnegut.png|400]] **Kurt Vonnegut Jr.** (November 11, 1922 – April 11, 2007) was an American author known for his satirical and darkly humorous novels. His published work includes fourteen novels, three short-story collections, five plays, and five nonfiction works over fifty-plus years. Born and raised in Indianapolis, Vonnegut attended Cornell University but withdrew in January 1943 and enlisted in the U.S. Army. He fought in World War II and was captured by the Germans during the Battle of the Bulge. He was interned in Dresden, where he survived the Allied bombing of the city. Vonnegut's breakthrough was his commercially and critically successful sixth novel, *Slaughterhouse-Five* (1969). Its anti-war sentiment resonated with readers amid the Vietnam War. Other notable works include *Cat's Cradle* (1963), *The Sirens of Titan* (1959), and *Breakfast of Champions* (1973). ## Quotes <!-- QueryToSerialize: LIST FROM #type/quote AND [[Kurt Vonnegut]] WHERE public_note = true SORT file.name ASC --> <!-- SerializedQuery: LIST FROM #type/quote AND [[Kurt Vonnegut]] WHERE public_note = true SORT file.name ASC --> - [[New knowledge is the most valuable commodity on earth. The more truth we have to work with, the richer we become]] - [[There is love enough in this world for everybody, if people will just look]] - [[We are what we pretend to be, so we must be careful about what we pretend to be]] - [[We'll go down in history as the first society that wouldn’t save itself because it wasn’t cost-effective]] - [[Writers are people who hate to write]] <!-- SerializedQuery END --> ## Books <!-- QueryToSerialize: LIST FROM #books AND [[Kurt Vonnegut]] WHERE public_note = true SORT file.name ASC --> <!-- SerializedQuery: LIST FROM #books AND [[Kurt Vonnegut]] WHERE public_note = true SORT file.name ASC --> - [[Cat's Cradle (book)]] <!-- SerializedQuery END -->