Life is a near-death experience.
George CarlinRead
Capitalism tries for a delicate balance: It attempts to work things out so that everyone gets just enough stuff to keep them from getting violent and trying to take other people’s stuff.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Capitalism aims to maintain social order by ensuring a basic level of material comfort for everyone.
In this quote, George Carlin critiques capitalism by highlighting its inherent need to create a balance between individual desires and social stability. He suggests that the system provides just enough resources and goods to the populace to prevent chaos and unrest, implying that underlying tensions exist within capitalist structures and that the distribution of wealth is crucial for societal peace.
Themes
CapitalismBalanceSocietyResourcesViolence
In practice
Example use cases
This quote can be used to spark a discussion on the sustainability of capitalism during a lecture on economics.
More from George Carlin
All quotes →Here’s a bumper sticker I’d like to see: “We are the proud parents of a child who’s self-esteem is sufficient that he doesn’t need us promoting his minor scholastic achievements on the back of our car."
George CarlinRead
If you've got a cat and a leg, you've got a happy cat. If you've got a cat and two legs, you've got a party.
George CarlinRead
This is a lttle prayer dedicated to the separation of church and state. I guess if they are going to force those kids to pray in schools they might as well have a nice prayer like this: Our Father who art in heaven, and to the republic for which it stands, thy kingdom come, one nation indivisible as in heaven, give us this day as we forgive those who so proudly we hail. Crown thy good into temptation but deliver us from the twilight's last gleaming. Amen and Awomen.
George CarlinRead
Some people try to get out of jury duty by lying. You don't have to lie. Tell the judge the truth. Tell him you'd make a terrific juror because you can spot guilty people.
George CarlinRead
Intelligence tests are biased toward the literate.
George CarlinRead
Similar quotes
Beloved," said the Glorious One, "unless thy desire had been for me thou wouldst not have sought so long and so truly. For all find what they truly seek.
C. S. LewisRead
The Constitution is no simple contract, not because it uses a certain amount of open-ended language, but because its language grants and guarantees many good things, and good things that compete with each other and can never all be realized, altogether, all at once.
David SouterRead
It is every man's obligation to put back into the world at least the equivalent of what he takes out of it.
Albert EinsteinRead
Holy solitaries' is a phrase no more consistent with the Gospel than holy adulterers. The Gospel of Christ knows no religion but social; no holiness, but social holiness.
John WesleyRead
Poverty is not just a sad accident, but it's also a result of the fact that some people make a lot of money off low-income families and directly contribute to their poverty.
Matthew DesmondRead
Real greatness is often humble, simple, and unobtrusive. It is not easy to trust ourselves and our actions without public affirmation. Some of the greatest works of art and the most important works of peace were created by people who had no need for the limelight. They knew that what they were doing was their call, and they did it with great patience, perseverance, and love.
Henri NouwenRead