Vol. 06 · Misquoted ·Book ·319 of 348
"We are here on earth to fart around. — Kurt Vonnegut"
They never said that.
What people say
"We are here on earth to fart around. — Kurt Vonnegut"
What was actually said
"I tell you, we are here on Earth to fart around, and don't let anybody tell you any different." Kurt Vonnegut — A Man Without a Country (2005)
Why it stuck
The pruned version is on T-shirts and dorm-room posters. Vonnegut's original has a sibling clause ("don't let anybody tell you different") that turns the joke into a mini-manifesto.
Vonnegut used the fuller version repeatedly in speeches. The shorter form is always the one that escapes into wild.
Know another line by heart?
Play the duel and see how many you can spot. Or browse the whole shelf.