That's the point. Every kind of animal thinks its own kind of animal is wonderful. So people getting married think they're wonderful, and that they're going to have a baby-- that's wonderful, when actually they're as ugly as rhinoceroses. Just because we think we're so wonderful doesn't mean we really are. We could be really terrible animals and just never admit it because it would hurt so much. Kurt Vonnegut Jr.
About This Quote

This quote can be interpreted in a number of ways. It's possible that the speaker is stating that people are terrible until they are forced to admit their faults. It's also possible that he is being ironic-- pretending to be straightforward, while actually being insincere. This interpretation takes on a more sinister meaning when considered with the passage from Chapter 12, which states, “No one is born hating another person because of the color of his skin, or his background, or his religion. People must learn to hate; it is that simple.”

Source: Hocus Pocus

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  3. To love another human in all of her splendor and imperfect perfection , it is a magnificent task...tremendous and foolish and human. - Louise Erdrich
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More Quotes By Kurt Vonnegut Jr.
  1. A purpose of human life, no matter who is controlling it, is to love whoever is around to be loved.
  2. 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...
  3. Love is where you find it. I think it is foolish to go around looking for it, and I think it can be poisonous. I wish that people who are conventionally supposed to love each other would say to each other, when they fight, 'Please...
  4. If somebody says 'I love you' to me, I feel as though I had a pistol pointed at my head. What can anybody reply under such conditions but that which the pistol holder requires? 'I love you, too'.
  5. And yet another moral occurs to me now: Make love when you can. It's good for you.
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