My character is self-important, poorly informed, well-intentioned but an idiot. So we said, `Let's give him a promotion.'
Stephen ColbertRead
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.
Interpretation
What this quote means
This quote reflects on the reliance of modern individuals on technology for their identity and personal connections.
Stephen Colbert's quote comments on the paradox of modern existence where individuals feel like mere vessels of technology, depending on it for their thoughts, memories, and relationships. Despite this reliance, he expresses confidence that the essence of what makes a person unique is still preserved somewhere, albeit in the hands of large corporations, highlighting the tension between individuality and technological commodification.
Themes
TechnologyIdentityRelationshipsCorporationsExistence
In practice
Example use cases
This quote by Stephen Colbert could be used in a tech conference to provoke thoughts on the impact of technology on individual identity.
More from Stephen Colbert
All quotes →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.
Stephen ColbertRead
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.
Stephen ColbertRead
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.
Stephen ColbertRead
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.
Stephen ColbertRead
I don't perceive my role as a newsman at all. I'm a comedian from stem to stern. You can cut me open and count the rings of jokes.
Stephen ColbertRead
Similar quotes
The Internet is becoming the town square for the global village of tomorrow.
Bill GatesRead
Every program has (at least) two purposes: the one for which it was written and another for which it wasn't.
Alan PerlisRead
There are only two industries that refer to their customers as 'users'.
Edward TufteRead
Every three weeks, we bring online as much solar power as we did in all of 2008.
Barack ObamaRead
We’re keenly aware that when we develop and make something and bring it to market that it really does speak to a set of values. And what preoccupies us is that sense of care, and what our products will not speak to is a schedule, what our products will not speak to is trying to respond to some corporate or competitive agenda. We’re very genuinely designing the best products that we can for people.
Jonathan IveRead
Give ordinary people the right tools, and they will design and build the most extraordinary things.
Neil GershenfeldRead