Bergeron's epitaph for the planet, I remember, which he said should be carved in big letters in a wall of the Grand Canyon for the flying-saucer people to find, was this: WE COULD HAVE SAVED IT BUT WE WERE TOO DOGGONE CHEAP Only he didn't say 'doggone.''
About this quote
- What does it mean?
- A fictional epitaph blames human cheapness for failing to save the planet.
- In plain terms
- We failed the planet because we were too cheap to act.
- What can you take from it?
- Stinginess can doom collective survival.
Where it applies
Putting it to work
Questions to consider
- What costs society avoids?
- Are we saving enough?
Another view
It simplifies complex systemic issues into one flaw.
More from Kurt Vonnegut
[Freedom of speech] isn't something somebody else gives you. That's something you give to yourself.
Permalink to quote #154 Another flaw in the human character is that everybody wants to build and nobody wants to do maintenance.
Permalink to quote #156 I asked Rob Roy where he had gone to college. 'Yale,' he said. I told him what Helen Dole said about Yale, that it ought to be called 'Plantation Owners' Tech.…
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