Vonnegut's Philosophy on Earnestness of Life

“I can’t tell if you’re serious or not,” said the driver. “I won’t know myself until I find out whether life is serious or not,” said Trout. “It’s dangerous, I know, and it can hurt a lot. That doesn’t necessarily mean it’s serious, too”.

After Trout became famous, of course, one of the biggest mysteries about him was whether he was kidding or not. He told one persistent questioner that he always crossed his fingers when he was kidding.

“And please note,” he went on, “that when I gave you that priceless piece of information, my fingers were crossed”.

From Kurt Vonnegut’s “Breakfast of Champions” (1973).