Government proposes, bureaucracy disposes. And the bureaucracy must dispose of government proposals by dumping them on us.
P. J. O'RourkeRead
The interesting thing about staring down a gun barrel is how small the hole is where the bullet comes out, yet what a big difference it would make in your social schedule.
Interpretation
The quote humorously highlights the stark contrast between the small size of a gun's barrel and the significant impact it has on a person's life.
P. J. O'Rourke’s quote plays on the irony of how a small physical object, like the barrel of a gun, can have such a profound influence on someone's life and relationships. It suggests that the fear and danger associated with firearms can drastically alter one's social interactions and priorities, underscoring the weight of seemingly minor things that can have major consequences.
In practice
In a stand-up comedy routine discussing the absurdity of everyday life.
Government proposes, bureaucracy disposes. And the bureaucracy must dispose of government proposals by dumping them on us.
Always read something that will make you look good if you die in the middle of it.
Predicting innovation is something of a self-canceling exercise: the most probable innovations are probably the least innovative.
I spend my days kneeling in the muck of language, feeling around for gooey verbs, nouns, and modifiers that I can squash together to make a blob of a sentence that bears some likeness to reason and sense.
Anyone who thinks he has a better idea of what's good for people than people do is a swine.
The idea of a news broadcast once was to find someone with information and broadcast it. The idea now is to find someone with ignorance and spread it around.
Jokes of the proper kind, properly told, can do more to enlighten questions of politics, philosophy, and literature than any number of dull arguments.
No one who has had "Taps" played for them has ever been able to hear it.
I thought she'd make some comment about the bloodthirsty gods chasing us, but when she finally found her voice, she said, "That boy kissed you!" Leave it to Liz to have her priorities straight.
The Christians gave Him Sunday, the Jews gave Him Saturday, and the Muslims gave Him Friday. God has a three-day weekend.
Comedy should speak truth to power. It should always be aimed upward. When it's aimed downward, it's called bullying.
That's how to make a stand-up comedian: You take a person who is uncomfortable and try to squirrel their way out of it through humor.
Subscribe for the occasional hand-picked quote. No noise.