Slaugterhouse Five OR The Children's Crusade
(YES, I am the only college student NOT taking classes and STILL reading books during the summer )
"Would - would you mind telling me-" he said to the guide, much deflated, "what was so stupid about that?"
"We know how the Universe ends-" said the guide, "and Earth has nothing to do with it, except that it gets wiped out, too."
"How- how DOES the Universe end?" said Billy.
"We blow it up, experimenting with new fuels for our flying saucers. A Tralfamadorian test pilot presses a starter button, and the whole Universe disappears." So it goes.
"If you know this," said Billy, "isn't there some way you can prevent it? Can't you keep the pilot from PRESSING the button?"
"He has ALWAYS pressed it, and he always WILL. We ALWAYS let him and we always WILL let him. The moment is STRUCTURED that way."
"So- " said Billy gropingly, "I suppose that the idea of preventing war on Earth is stupid, too."
"Of course."
"But you DO have a peaceful planet here."
"Today we do. On other days we have wars as horrible as any you've ever seen or read about. There isn't anything we can do about them, so we simply don't look at them. We ignore them. We spend eternity looking at pleasant moments- like today at the zoo. Isn't this a nice moment?"
"Yes."
"That's one thing Earthlings might learn to do, if they tried hard enough: Ignore the awful times, and concentrate on the good ones."
"Um," said Billy Pilgrim.
"Would - would you mind telling me-" he said to the guide, much deflated, "what was so stupid about that?"
"We know how the Universe ends-" said the guide, "and Earth has nothing to do with it, except that it gets wiped out, too."
"How- how DOES the Universe end?" said Billy.
"We blow it up, experimenting with new fuels for our flying saucers. A Tralfamadorian test pilot presses a starter button, and the whole Universe disappears." So it goes.
"If you know this," said Billy, "isn't there some way you can prevent it? Can't you keep the pilot from PRESSING the button?"
"He has ALWAYS pressed it, and he always WILL. We ALWAYS let him and we always WILL let him. The moment is STRUCTURED that way."
"So- " said Billy gropingly, "I suppose that the idea of preventing war on Earth is stupid, too."
"Of course."
"But you DO have a peaceful planet here."
"Today we do. On other days we have wars as horrible as any you've ever seen or read about. There isn't anything we can do about them, so we simply don't look at them. We ignore them. We spend eternity looking at pleasant moments- like today at the zoo. Isn't this a nice moment?"
"Yes."
"That's one thing Earthlings might learn to do, if they tried hard enough: Ignore the awful times, and concentrate on the good ones."
"Um," said Billy Pilgrim.