The trouble with the rat race is that even if you win, you're still a rat.
Lily TomlinRead
Instead of working for the survival of the fittest, we should be working for the survival of the wittiest - then we can all die laughing.
Interpretation
The quote suggests that instead of valuing those who are simply the strongest, we should appreciate those who can make us laugh.
Lily Tomlin's quote challenges the Darwinian notion of 'survival of the fittest' by proposing that humor and wit should be the traits we cherish and cultivate. By prioritizing laughter and the ability to make others laugh, we foster a more joyful and light-hearted existence, suggesting that a witty perspective on life can lead to a more fulfilling and less serious approach to our mortality.
In practice
This quote could be used in a comedy club promoting the importance of humor.
The trouble with the rat race is that even if you win, you're still a rat.
Sometimes I worry about being a success in a mediocre world.
The road to success is always under construction.
Ninety eight percent of the adults in this country are decent, hardworking, honest Americans. It's the other lousy two percent that get all the publicity. But then, we elected them.
Truth is, I've always been selling out. The difference is that in the past, I looked like I had integrity because there were no buyers.
Why is it that when we talk to God we're said to be praying but when God talks to us we're schizophrenic?
People assume when my hair is long that I am a lot cooler than I actually am. I am not opposed to this misconception, by the way, but it is a misconception.
A good joke is the closest thing we have to divine revelation.
If you can't laugh at yourself, then how can you laugh at anybody else? I think people see the human side of you when you do that.
Clarinets, like lawyers, have cases, mouthpieces, and they need a constant supply of hot air in order to function.
I walk the streets, take the train, it's real simple. Some actors create their own mythology: 'Oh, I'm so famous I can't go places, because I created this mythology that I'm so famous I can't go places.'
I used to think you had to live this miserable life and that that would make you funnier, but you don't. The misery will come. The misery will find you.
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