This belongs to Alaina.

This is my first tattoo. I actually waited until I was 30 to get it, and I am glad that I did. I love Slaughterhouse-Five, and use this quote as a constant reminder not to dwell on things that I cannot control. As a teacher, it has started more than one conversation with students that didn’t necessarily trust authority figures and wanted someone that could relate to them, however small a degree.

This was posted as a part of â€œSo it Goes” Saturdays. The phrase “so it goes” appears in Kurt Vonnegut’s Slaughterhouse-Five 106 times. Can you help me collect 106 “so it goes” tattoos? 95 down, 11 to go.

The post So it Goes #96, 97, 98 appeared first on Contrariwise: Literary Tattoos - The original literary tattoo blog! Over 600 tattoos from books, poetry, music, and other sources..

This belongs to Emily T.

The font was somewhat custom, a mix of two or three Microsoft Word fonts.

I’ve read Slaughterhouse-Five countless times over the last few years; it always reads a different way. Each time I get a different insight, a new understanding of the book. There’s too many feelings to express what Vonnegut sums up in three words; So it goes.

“And Lot’s wife, of course, was told not to look back where all those people and their homes had been. But she did look back, and I love her for that, because it was so human.

So she was turned to a pillar of salt. So it goes.”

This belongs to Erika.

This is the ‘Slaughterhouse-Five‘ tattoo I got just after graduating from uni. I was introduced to the book in my first week and the repetition of the line throughout it really stuck with me even when many of the others in my class found it an insensitive reaction to the tragedies in the story. Long story short, I had a hard time at uni, I didn’t make friends and slowly got more separated from the ones I did have. At its core I’ve always thought ‘so it goes’ is a lamentation on and an acceptance of the bad, while understanding things were good once and will be good again. I figured it was a fitting goodbye to 4 years that were really hard and I wouldn’t change, but was happy to leave behind.

This belongs to Josh.

I just got this yesterday [ed. note: submitted April 2013] and was comparing to other people with the same tattoo. My name is Josh Howell, and I’m a professor in Norfolk, VA! This is on my left arm.

This was posted as a part of “So it Goes” Saturdays. The phrase “so it goes” appears in Kurt Vonnegut’s Slaughterhouse-Five 106 times. Can you help me collect 106 “so it goes” tattoos? 95 down, 11 to go.

The post So it Goes #93, 94, 95 appeared first on Contrariwise: Literary Tattoos - The original literary tattoo blog! Over 600 tattoos from books, poetry, music, and other sources..

This belongs to Jecy.

So it goes: life is an endless cycle not excluding death and moving on. No losses are irrevocable: in the past, the present and the future, life will remain in existence. And in life, love will always be there.

This belongs to Clarisse.

I got this tattoo on my ribs in white ink in the font American Typewriter.
This was my first tattoo and probably the only quote i will ever have on my body. It’s a much more eloquent reminder that shit happens and life goes on and there isn’t a damn thing you can do about it besides keep on living.

This belongs to Taylor from New York.

For my eighteenth birthday.

This was posted as a part of â€œSo it Goes” Saturdays. The phrase “so it goes” appears in Kurt Vonnegut’s Slaughterhouse-Five 106 times. Can you help me collect 106 “so it goes” tattoos? 92 down, 14 to go.

The post So it Goes #90, 91, 92 appeared first on Contrariwise: Literary Tattoos - The original literary tattoo blog! Over 600 tattoos from books, poetry, music, and other sources..

The line is, “The world was hers for the reading.” I decided to change it and create a little of my own, “The world was hers to read.” I did it in medium typewriter font.

I am in grad school to be a librarian and this means two things to me.  One, when I read I have the whole world at my fingertips… I can learn or hear, understand anything. And the world is full of things for me to read… long dead people for me to meet.

“From that time on, the world was hers for the reading. She would never be lonely again, never miss the lack of intimate friends. Books became her friends and there was one for every mood. There was poetry for quiet companionship. There was adventure when she tired of quiet hours. There would be love stories when she came into adolescence and when she wanted to feel a closeness to someone she could read a biography. On that day when she first knew she could read, she made a vow to read one book a day as long as she lived.”

– Betty Smith, A Tree Grows in Brooklyn

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This belongs to Arija.

“So it goes” and Tralfamadorian as described in Slaughterhouse-Five. I plan to get one on the opposite ankle of Saturn and its moon Titan along with an eye from the cover of The Sirens of Titan.

This belongs to Autumn A.

The first square is my first attempt to capture what I wanted for my tattoo. The remaining three shows the cover-up that I now love. It was done by Amber Anderson at Brave New World Tattoo in Upland, and she did such an excellent job at turning my idea into reality. It is our rendition of a Tralfamadorian ship, with a banner trailing behind. Like many others, “so it goes” means so much to me. It has become my mantra in the face of loss, tragedy, and hurt, but it also reminds me to enjoy the sweeter moments with more appreciation and thoughtfulness.

This belongs to Courtney.

I had no idea that anyone else had this tattoo and then I stumbled across this website. You have So it Goes Saturdays!! Haha. None of my friends or family are big readers so everyone thought it was a dumb tattoo..or didn’t get it. It’s nice to know I kinda have a whole army of people that fell in love with this wonderful piece of literature the way I did.

I plan on getting a few more tattoos, all literary. My only non literary tattoo is “Let it Be” Gotta rep my Beatles :)

It’s done in white ink which would be why it’s difficult to see on my pale skin.

This was posted as a part of “So it Goes” Saturdays. The phrase “so it goes” appears in Kurt Vonnegut’s Slaughterhouse-Five 106 times. Can you help me collect 106 “so it goes” tattoos? 89 down, 17 to go.

The post So it Goes #87, 88, 89 appeared first on Contrariwise: Literary Tattoos - The original literary tattoo blog! Over 600 tattoos from books, poetry, music, and other sources..

This tattoo belongs to Marillia from Brazil.

It’s a quote from “Le Petit Prince“.
It says, in french: “Nobody is perfect”, sighed the fox.

I had the tattoo done on my right wrist, facing me, so when I’m dealing with people that frustrate me and make me feel depressed I can just look at my tattoo and let its meaning sink in.

The post “Rien n’est parfait,” soupira le renard. appeared first on Contrariwise: Literary Tattoos - The original literary tattoo blog! Over 600 tattoos from books, poetry, music, and other sources..

This tattoo belongs to Michelle.

This tattoo is from Stephen King’s The Dark Tower Series. The images and quotes are from various books in the series. I chose these quotes, because of how beautiful I find Stephen King’s writing to be.

“The mild, spicy smell of old books hit him, and the smell was somehow like coming home”

“The man in black fled across the desert, and the gunslinger followed.”

The quote is in typewriter font.

The post The Dark Tower appeared first on Contrariwise: Literary Tattoos - The original literary tattoo blog! Over 600 tattoos from books, poetry, music, and other sources..

I’ve always been drawn to Sherman Alexie’s prose, and after reading “Jesus Christ’s Half-brother is Alive and Well on the Spokane Indian Reservation” (from The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven), one line just resonated with me over and over. I love both the strength of women and music (the optical illusion is both a woman’s silhouette, and a musician playing a saxophone), but even more so, I love the words that flow around it. Being half white and half Navajo, I’ve always felt as though I was walking a fine line; in Arizona, I was too white to be Indian, and in Pennsylvania, I was too Indian to be white. I’ve existed in a liminal space for so long, that I often feel like an illusion myself, and see this tattoo as embracing the in betweens that make us individual, while I also acknowledge that privilege does exist, and half the time I am permitted that luxury.

Been sober so long it’s like a dream but I feel better somehow and Auntie was so proud of me she took James and me into the city for James’s checkup and James still wasn’t talking but Auntie and James and I ate a great lunch at Woolworth’s before we headed back to the reservation. I got to drive and Auntie’s uranium money Cadillac is a hell of a car and it was raining a little and hot so there were rainbows rainbows rain, bows and the pine trees looked like wise men with wet beards or at least I thought they did. That’s how I do this life sometimes by making the ordinary just like magic and just like a card trick and just like a mirror and just like the disappearing. Every Indian learns how to be a magician and learns how to misdirect attention and the dark hand is always quicker than the white eye and no matter how close you get to my heart you will never find out my secrets and I’ll never tell you and I’ll never show you the same trick twice.
I’m traveling heavy with illusions.

– “Jesus Christ’s Half-brother is Alive and Well on the Spokane Indian Reservation” (from The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven) by Sherman Alexie

The post illusions appeared first on Contrariwise: Literary Tattoos - The original literary tattoo blog! Over 600 tattoos from books, poetry, music, and other sources..

This tattoo belongs to RoxyOlson.

Tattoo is from Harry Potter, in particular the 3rd book – Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban.

Yes, I’m a huge fan of the HP books, but this tattoo on my left shoulder reminds me of the (sometimes) harmless mischief that I often find myself in. It’s meant to be light-hearted, fun and cute. A little mischief never hurt anyone, right?

Tattoo done by R. Lannan at Barron Tattoo in Calgary, AB Canada. Font is Kathleen.

The post mischief managed appeared first on Contrariwise: Literary Tattoos - The original literary tattoo blog! Over 600 tattoos from books, poetry, music, and other sources..

This tattoo belongs to MareJBear.

My submission is from Robert Frost’s poem “Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening.” It is on my left foot. It is in his original handwriting as he has an autographed book. I got it because I am in love with the last verse of the poem:

The woods are lovely dark and deep
But I have promises to keep
And miles to go before I sleep
And miles to go before I sleep

To me it is motivational as is beautiful and the placement has significance has well.

The post miles to go before I sleep appeared first on Contrariwise: Literary Tattoos - The original literary tattoo blog! Over 600 tattoos from books, poetry, music, and other sources..

This tattoo belongs to Patrick Kern.

This tattoo is taken from the first two lines of J.R.R Tolkien’s poem “The Riddle of Strider“. The lines are in Sindarin Tengwar, and they read “All that is gold does not glitter; Not all who wander are lost“. The poem describes the character of Aragorn, and his rise from an unknown Dunedein Ranger of the north, to the High King of Gondor (Thus, the crowned White Tree of Gondor in the center.)

The post The Riddle of Strider appeared first on Contrariwise: Literary Tattoos - The original literary tattoo blog! Over 600 tattoos from books, poetry, music, and other sources..

This belongs to Aimee.

I worry about everything and anything. I’m pretty much a ball of stress and I keep all of it in my shoulders. I’ve always like the expression/book and one day I found myself thinking it when I was overwhelmed. Now I have a reminder to take a deep breath and accept that some things are just going to happen.

This belongs to Cassandra.

My reason for getting it is that I feel it is always important to remember that life is transient, both the good and the bad. Vonnegut keeps me humble and looking forward.

It was done by Westside Tattoo in Brisbane, Australia.

This belongs to Alexa.

The reason behind this tattoo was simply to remind myself that no matter what happens in life, we learn something from it and then we move on. Getting stuck in time does us no good.

This was posted as a part of “So it Goes” Saturdays. The phrase “so it goes” appears in Kurt Vonnegut’s Slaughterhouse-Five 106 times. Can you help me collect 106 “so it goes” tattoos? 86 down, 20 to go.

The post So it Goes #84, 85, 86 appeared first on Contrariwise: Literary Tattoos - The original literary tattoo blog! Over 600 tattoos from books, poetry, music, and other sources..

This belongs to Tazhiana.

This is my Harry Potter tattoo and I’m sure it’s a pretty popular one but the Harry Potter series literally saved my life. The magic in that story was enough to get me through a really tough time, and even now that I am in a much better state of mind, I am proud to call Hogwarts home. Someone asked me the other day if I was still a serious fan and my response was “Always”. That’s when I knew that this would be my next tattoo. It’s a badge of honor, to remind me of a rough patch of life that I got through and that there still is magic in the world waiting for us to find it.

The post Always appeared first on Contrariwise: Literary Tattoos - The original literary tattoo blog! Over 600 tattoos from books, poetry, music, and other sources..

This belongs to Kristina Keefe.

My tattoo is Robert frost’s last stanza in “Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening”

I got this shortly after my grandmother suddenly died when I was a teen. She had written it to me in her last letter, telling me to read more & that this poem was her favorite.
The font is her actual handwriting, taken from the letter and copied onto my skin. The concept is the roots of the tree reach thru her journey to the faith. The top of the sleeve is still under construction.

Artist: Kenneth “tat” Bryan of Intimate Body Art Studies in Glenside, PA.

The woods are lovely, dark and deep,
But I have promises to keep,
And miles to go before I sleep,
And miles to go before I sleep.

– Robert Frost, Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening

The post Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening appeared first on Contrariwise: Literary Tattoos - The original literary tattoo blog! Over 600 tattoos from books, poetry, music, and other sources..

This belongs to Mariel.  She originally submitted her tattoo in 2012 while the site was on hiatus, so I contacted her for an update.  The pictures at the top of the post were taken when the tattoo was fresh, and the pictures below were taken recently.

This is another of my literary tattoos. It is a quotation from Pablo Neruda in his book The Sea and the Bells. The poem itself is untitled. The text of it can be found on the Google Books website.

For the sake of authenticity, it was really important for me to get the tattoo in its original Spanish. It reads, “Nada puede matar nuestro mejor.” According to the English translation in the book, it means “Nothing is able to kill the best in us,” but I usually just tell people it means “Nothing can kill our best.” To me, this tattoo is a reminder that I am stronger than I imagine, and that life’s challenges cannot defeat what is best in me.

Pablo Neruda is one of my favorite poets. I originally fell in love with his romantic poetry, but this quotation helped me cope with my husband’s deployment to Afghanistan and all the hardship that entailed.

The font I used is Scriptina Pro.

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This belongs to Darian K.

My life is a constant whirlwind full of self doubt and existential angst. When I look at this tattoo, I remember to breathe. I remember that just because I feel like I am going insane, I am alive, and that’s good enough for the moment.

“I took a deep breath and listened to the old brag of my heart. I am, I am, I am.”

– The Bell Jar by Syliva Plath

The post I am. I am. I am. appeared first on Contrariwise: Literary Tattoos - The original literary tattoo blog! Over 600 tattoos from books, poetry, music, and other sources..

This belongs to Rodery.

It has been my favourite book since I was sixteen, and this quote has always stood out to me. It is so uplifting and positive. :)

The font is Commercial Script BT.

“I feel infinite.”

– The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky

The post i feel infinite appeared first on Contrariwise: Literary Tattoos - The original literary tattoo blog! Over 600 tattoos from books, poetry, music, and other sources..

This tattoo belongs to Teigen.

This is the last line of Wendell Berry’s poem Manifesto: The Mad Farmer Liberation Front. This line has been ringing in my head for years, since I first heard the poem read in a church service. I grew up in the woods, and it kills me to see our culture’s despoiling and neglect of nature. Having these words on my wrist reminds me to choose the uphill path, to make decisions in my daily life which uphold the life and happiness of those around me, and to treat the world as sacred.

Go with your love to the fields.
Lie down in the shade. Rest your head
in her lap. Swear allegiance
to what is nighest your thoughts.
As soon as the generals and the politicos
can predict the motions of your mind,
lose it. Leave it as a sign
to mark the false trail, the way
you didn’t go. Be like the fox
who makes more tracks than necessary,
some in the wrong direction.
Practice resurrection.

– Wendell Berry

The post Practice resurrection. appeared first on Contrariwise: Literary Tattoos - The original literary tattoo blog! Over 600 tattoos from books, poetry, music, and other sources..

This belongs to Anke Hans.

The quote is from Kurt Vonnegut’s “Slaughterhouse Five”. I did not know that when I got the tattoo, I had just seen it on Pinterest and got it at ‘Kingdom Within Tattoo studio’ during my holidays in Iceland last February ;-)

This belongs to Bryce Cole, who got the tattoo on his birthday (July 6, 2013).

This belongs to Fox.

I read Slaughterhouse Five for the first time when I was 18 and it is one of my favourite novels. I got the tattoo to remind me not to get caught up in things that have happened that I can’t change, to live as if I’ll be forever unstuck in time like the Tralfamadorians. The font is Bookman, the original font Vonnegut used, as I wanted the words to look the same as in my book.

The tattoo was done at The Illustrated Man in Sydney, Australia.

This was posted as a part of “So it Goes” Saturdays. The phrase “so it goes” appears in Kurt Vonnegut’s Slaughterhouse-Five 106 times. Can you help me collect 106 “so it goes” tattoos? 83 down, 23 to go.

The post So it Goes #81, 82, 83 appeared first on Contrariwise: Literary Tattoos - The original literary tattoo blog! Over 600 tattoos from books, poetry, music, and other sources..

This belongs to Claire Brooks.

My tattoo is an excerpt from a line in Frank O’Hara’s poem “Meditations in an Emergency,” the first part of which goes as follows:

Am I to become profligate as if I were a blonde? Or religious as if I were French?

Each time my heart is broken it makes me feel more adventurous (and how the same names keep recurring on that interminable list!), but one of these days there’ll be nothing left with which to venture forth.

Why should I share you? Why don’t you get rid of someone else for a change?

I am the least difficult of men. All I want is boundless love.

Even trees understand me! Good heavens, I lie under them, too, don’t I? I’m just like a pile of leaves.

Frank O’Hara is my favorite poet, and the line “All I want is boundless love” became an inside joke between my partner and I when we were courting. I recommend ALL his poetry, but this poem and “Mayakovsky” are by far my favorites. I love having Frank’s words where I can see them at any time.

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