Kurt Vonnegut? Jacqueline Blais? Apocryphal?
Question for Quote Investigator: A prominent writer was unhappy that the world was not rapidly phasing out the use of fossil fuels. So the wit wrote a sardonic explanation for future generations. Here are two versions:
(1) We were roaring drunk on petroleum.
(2) We were rolling drunk on petroleum.
These words have been attributed to U.S. novelist and essayist Kurt Vonnegut. Would you please help me to find a citation and to determine the correct phrasing?
Reply from Quote Investigator: Kurt Vonnegut expressed this idea on multiple occasions. In February 2006 Vonnegut attended the Connecticut Forum in Hartford Connecticut, and he participated in a panel discussion with fellow writers. Boldface added to excerpts by QI:1
Asked about a reference in his most recent book to the world’s dependence on oil, he offered this message to future generations: “Please accept our apologies. We were roaring drunk on petroleum. … My reading of history [is] the only fun most human beings have ever had … has been driving automobiles. … Eventually we will run out of fossil fuels. I think the world is ending.”
Thus, Kurt Vonnegut deserves credit for this saying. The ellipses above appeared in the original newspaper text.
The variant with “rolling” instead of “roaring” entered circulation by 2008, but Vonnegut died in 2007, and QI has found no direct evidence that he employed the variant.
Below are additional selected citations in chronological order.
The figurative phrase “drunk on petroleum” has a long history. In 1882 a newspaper in Macon, Georgia told the tale of an enthusiastic owner of a new oil well:2
He had just completed his first oil well and every cent he had in the world was invested in the venture. It was beginning to flow and the next few moments would determine whether he was penniless or wealthy.
The well struck oil, and the thrilled owner stood next to a rapidly filling tank. But the inhalation of dangerous oil fumes caused the owner to lose consciousness. The title of the article was “Drunk On Petroleum Oil”.
In September 2005 a newspaper in Waterloo, Canada published an opinion piece containing the phrase:3
… the sobering slap that higher oil prices have delivered to a world drunk on petroleum has done us all a favour.
In October 2005 “USA Today” journalist Jacqueline Blais conducted an interview with Kurt Vonnegut in a Manhattan restaurant during which the author used the expression:4
His thoughts about gasoline dependency came early in life. He was born Nov. 11, 1922, in Indianapolis — home to the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, established in 1911. “When I got here in 1922, this country was already roaring drunk on petroleum,” he says. “We are still roaring drunk on petroleum.”
In February 2006 Vonnegut attended the Connecticut Forum, and a journalist from “The Hartford Courant” reported Vonnegut’s comments as mentioned previously. In addition, a journalist from the “New Haven Register” was present, and he published the following:5
But some in the audience seemed taken aback by his apocalyptic views. “I have a message for future generations: Please accept our apologies. We were roaring drunk on petroleum, and we still are.
“That is going to end very soon,” he said. “The world will run out of fuel. And I think the world is ending. We are perfectly awful creatures and are tearing the planet apart. We should get the hell out of here.”
On April 4, 2007 the periodical “NUVO” described an art show titled “Confetti” composed of prints by Kurt Vonnegut which were displayed in the Indianapolis Art Center in Indiana:6
“Dear future generations: please accept our apologies. We were roaring drunk on petroleum. Love, 2006 A.D.” It should come as no surprise that these are the words of the inimitable Kurt Vonnegut Jr., the honoree of a year-long celebration put on by a number of the city’s cultural entities — among them the Indianapolis Art Center. As a (primarily) visual art institution, the Art Center gives its due to Vonnegut with Confetti: Prints by Kurt Vonnegut Jr., on view in the Ruth Lilly Library — and from which the above quote springs.
Vonnegut died on April 11, 2007, and on April 14th journalist Jacqueline Blais of “USA Today” published the following:7
He was best known for classics Cat’s Cradle and Slaughterhouse-Five, published in the ’60s. And he was a force in the world for decades after. Until a month ago, he would fax handwritten sayings to Joel Bleifuss, editor of In These Times magazine. For example: “Dear future generations: Please accept our apologies. We were roaring drunk on petroleum. 2006 A.D. Kurt Vonnegut.”
In November 2008 a tweet included a variant of the saying with the word “rolling” instead of “roaring”. The tweet pointed to a webpage on the Tumblr social network which attributed the words to Kurt Vonnegut:8
“Dear future generations: Please accept our apologies. We were rolling drunk on petroleum.”
In 2012 “The Courier Mail” of Brisbane, Australia published an article containing miscellaneous tweets including this item:9
@Kurt-Vonnegut
Dear future generations: Please accept our apologies. We were rolling drunk on petroleum.
In 2014 the book “If This Isn’t Nice, What Is? Advice To The Young: The Graduation Speeches by Kurt Vonnegut” edited by Dan Wakefield appeared. The book included a section of quotations ascribed to Vonnegut which included this item:10
“Dear future generations: Please accept our apologies. We were roaring drunk on petroleum.”
In conclusion, Kurt Vonnegut deserves credit for the message directed at future generations which appeared in the “The Hartford Courant” in 2006. Vonnegut shared the same message in a print in an art show in 2007.
Image Notes: Picture of an oil well in Leduc, Alberta, Canada from the Provincial Archives of Alberta via Unsplash. The image has been cropped.
Acknowledgement: Great thanks to Keith Heiberg whose inquiry led QI to formulate this question and perform this exploration.
- 2006 February 5, The Hartford Courant, Section: Connecticut, Article: Writers Share Wit, Wisdom – Vonnegut, Weiner, Oates Discuss Fiction, Byline: Robert A. Frahm, Quote Page B1, Hartford, Connecticut. (NewsBank Access World News) ↩︎
- 1882 March 23, The Macon Telegraph and Messenger, Drunk on Petroleum Oil (Acknowledgement of Philadelphia Times), Quote Page 2, Column 4, Macon, Georgia. (NewsBank Access World News) ↩︎
- 2005 September 17, Waterloo Region Record, Section: Opinion, Article: High gas prices can save us all, Quote Page A18, Waterloo, Ontario, Canada. (NewsBank Access World News) ↩︎
- 2005 October 6, USA Today, Section: Life, Article: Vonnegut, on politics, presidents and librarians – His ‘Without a Country’ finds him still speaking up, Byline: Jacqueline Blais, Quote Page 4D, Gannett Co., Inc., Tysons, Virginia. (NewsBank Access World News) ↩︎
- 2006 February 12, New Haven Register, Article: Kurt Vonnegut, in Twain’s footsteps, is a man with a message: apocalypse now, Byline: Randall Beach, Quote Page b1, New Haven, Connecticut. (NewsBank Access World News) ↩︎
- 2007 April 4, NUVO, Section: Visual Arts, Article: Words in pictures, Byline: Julianna Thibodeaux, No Page Number Specified, Indianapolis, Indiana. (NewsBank Access World News) ↩︎
- 2007 April 13, USA Today, Section: Life, Article: ‘He still had hope in his heart’ – Kurt Vonnegut’s passion and influence never let up, Byline: Jacqueline Blais, Quote Page 3E, Gannett Co., Inc., Tysons, Virginia. (NewsBank Access World News) ↩︎
- Social network: X-Twitter, Timestamp: 9:33 AM – Nov 18, 2008, Handle: Mario Andrei Pantoja @marioandrei, Text: “Dear future generations: Please accept …”, (Accessed October 30, 2023) link ↩︎
- 2012 August 22, The Courier Mail, Article: Tweet makers, Quote Page 029, Brisbane, Australia. (NewsBank Access World News) ↩︎
- 2014, If This Isn’t Nice, What Is? Advice To The Young: The Graduation Speeches by Kurt Vonnegut, Selected by Dan Wakefield, Chapter: Unstuck In Time — Quotes To Ponder, Quote Page 122, Seven Stories Press, New York. (Verified with scans) ↩︎