Life is a near-death experience.
Every person you look at, you can see the universe in their eyes, if you're really looking
Interpretation
What this quote means
This quote suggests that each individual holds a vast and unique world within them, which can be perceived through genuine observation.
George Carlin highlights the idea that every person is a universe unto themselves, full of experiences, emotions, and stories. By encouraging us to truly look at people, he emphasizes the importance of deep connection and understanding of the intricate lives others lead. This perspective invites us to appreciate the individuality and complexity of each human being, urging us to go beyond superficial judgments and engage more authentically with others.
Themes
In practice
Example use cases
During a speech about empathy, you might quote this to emphasize the importance of seeing the inner lives of others.
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."
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.
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.
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.
Intelligence tests are biased toward the literate.
Similar quotes
Disobedience to conscience is voluntary; bad poetry, on the other hand, is usually not made on purpose.
All living souls welcome whatsoever they are ready to cope with; all else they ignore, or pronounce to be monstrous and wrong, or deny to be possible.
We divorced ourselves from the materials of the earth, the rock, the wood, the iron ore; we looked to new materials which were cooked in vats, long complex derivatives of urine which we called plastic. They had no odor of the living, ... their touch was alien to nature. ... [They proliferated] like the matastases of cancer cells.
My principal motive is the belief that we can still make admirable sense of our lives even if we cease to have... an ambition of transcendence.
The true civilization is where every man gives to every other every right that he claims for himself.
If the government is to try and ban private consumption of alcohol and tobacco, it must surely ban such activities as hang-gliding, skiing, rock-climbing and so on. Where should it stop? Rugby? American Football? Ice Hockey? _x000D_ Insofar as the government has information not generally available about the merits or demerits of the items we ingest or the activities we engage in, let it give us the information. But let it leave us free to choose what chances we want to take with our own lives.