'I wish I had been born a bird instead,' he said. 'I wish we had all been born birds instead.'
About this quote
- What does it mean?
- Wishing to be a bird expresses a desire to escape human suffering and complexity.
- In plain terms
- People sometimes want to escape being human.
- What can you take from it?
- Human life carries pain we often wish to leave.
Where it applies
Putting it to work
Questions to consider
- What do you wish to escape?
- Is freedom worth leaving your nature?
Another view
Escapism avoids real problems.
More from Kurt Vonnegut
She was an alcoholic. I didn't blame myself for that. The worst problem in the life of any alcoholic is alcohol.
Permalink to quote #149 Just because some of us can read and write and do a little math, that doesn't mean we deserve to conquer the Universe.
Permalink to quote #151 Beer, of course, is actually a depressant. But poor people will never stop hoping otherwise.
Permalink to quote #148
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