“There are people, particularly dumb people, who are in terrible trouble and never get out of it, because they’re not intelligent enough. And it strikes me as gruesome and comical that in our culture we have an expectation that a man can always solve his problems. There is that implication that if you just have a little more energy, a little more fight, the problem can always be solved. This is so untrue that it makes me want to cry— or laugh. Culturally, American men aren’t supposed to cry. So I don’t cry much— but I do laugh a lot.”

— from Kurt Vonnegut’s “Playboy” interview — reprinted within Wampeters, Foma & Granfalloons (Opinions)