I knew how many zeroes there were in a quintillion, but I thought that algebra lived in ponds.

In the long history of human affairs, common sense doesn’t have the greatest track record.

Even very low-probability events can, and indeed do, occur.

Fear distorts the world. Fear sees demons where only shadows dwell.

[...] from what I'd been able to ascertain online, the Swiss were a reassuringly practical people. They had a long, proud history of staying out of wars, preferring to devote themselves to more constructive endeavours like science, secure banking and building extremely accurate clocks.

For us, it was never about death. It was about life. Knowing that there was a way out, and that his suffering was not going to become unendurable, was the one thing that allowed Mr. Peterson to go on living, much longer than he would have otherwise wanted. It was the weeks leading up to our pact that were shrouded in darkness and despair; after its inception, life became a meaningful prospect once more.

Как и в других книгах Воннегута, сюжет «Завтрака для чемпионов» был каким-то рваным и бессвязным. Мне кажется, книгу можно было бы разобрать на страницы, перетасовать их, как колоду карт, и потом читать в произвольном порядке — роман от этого нисколько не пострадал бы. Дело в том, что каждая его страница, если не каждый абзац, выражает вполне самостоятельную и глубоко осмысленную идею.

They sent the shrink round yesterday. He's put me on Prozac. Prozac! He thinks I'm depressed.''Aren't you depressed?''I wasn't depressed.''You did try to kill yourself,' I pointed out.'Yes. That's what he said too. Apparently that's a classic symptom. It's not thought a sane plan of action for someone in my situation.

You can't make anyone happy, just like no one else can make you happy. Because real happiness doesn't work like that. You have to learn to be happy on your own. Then you can start worrying about being happy with somebody else.

Acknowledging reality for myself was one thing. Having to explain what as happening - and what was going to happen - to another person was something else entirely. That would make it TOO real.