QuoteProject
Like O'Rielly, we'll grab the most important word of each sentence... 'The' for example. Also, I'll say, 'I'm angry,' and the graphic will read, 'Colbert angry.
Stephen Colbert
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Interpretation

What this quote means

This quote highlights the absurdity of focusing on trivial details in communication while overlooking the larger context.

Stephen Colbert humorously critiques the way media can distort and simplify complex emotions or issues by reducing them to their most basic components, like isolated words or phrases. It underscores how sensationalism in media often misrepresents reality, turning genuine feelings or situations into mere catchy soundbites for easier consumption.

Themes

MediaCommunicationHumorEmotionSimplification

In practice

Example use cases

This quote could be used in a discussion about the role of media in shaping public perception.

More from Stephen Colbert

My character is self-important, poorly informed, well-intentioned but an idiot. So we said, `Let's give him a promotion.'
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Luckily, a recent survey published in the American Sociological Review revealed that atheists are the least trusted group in America—less trusted, even, than homosexuals. It makes sense at least we trust the homosexuals with our hair.
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And when those bombs went off, there were runners who, after finishing a marathon, kept running for another two miles to the hospital to donate blood. So, here's what I know - these maniacs may have tried to make life bad for the people of Boston, but all they can ever do, is show just how good those people are.
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My father always wanted to be 'Col-bear.' He lived in the same town as his father, and his father didn't like the idea of the name with the French pronunciation. So my father said to us, 'Do what you want. You're not going to offend anybody.' And he was dead long before I made my decision.
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I may be just an empty flesh terminal reliant on technology for all my ideas, memories and relationships, but I am confident that all of that everything that makes me a unique human being is still out there somewhere, safe in a theoretical storage space owned by giant, multinational corporations.
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And that brings us to tonight's word: Truthiness. Now I'm sure some of the word-police, the 'wordanistas' over at Websters, are gonna say, 'Hey, that's not a word!' Well, anybody who knows me knows that I am no fan of dictionaries or reference books. They're elitist. Constantly telling us what is or isn't true, what did or didn't happen.
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