Billy Lynn's Long Halftime Walk

He had become so habituated to protect his money that he forgot what the money was for — so he could park his truck and go enjoy the freedom and aliveness and peace and camaraderie that comes from spending a morning playing in the waves. He was so unaware of the importance of his experience that he was willing to give it away for a mere thirty-five

Part of the reason these expectations have stuck around for 35 years after they shifted away from reality is because they felt so good for so many people when they were valid. Something that good—or at least the impression that it was that good—isn’t easy to let go of. So people haven’t let go of it. They want it back. 10. The Tea Party, Occupy Wal

He told us that one reason he and his friends wanted to start the commune and learn to “live off the land” in a simple way was that “we want to be the last people on earth.” Vonnegut said, “Isn’t that kind of a stuck-up kind of thing to want to be?” In the way he spoke and the way he wrote, Vonnegut was always coming up with the plain-spoken words

After the war in Liberia you rented a house in the capital and lived there for years. Years. Who does that? No one I know except you, my dear friend. That’s part of Misrata, too. That’s also part of what you died for: the decision to live a life that was thrown open to all the beauty and misery and ugliness and joy in the world.