Life is a near-death experience.
Just when I discovered the meaning of life, they changed it.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote suggests that understanding life's purpose is elusive and subject to change. It reflects on the humor found in life's complexities.
George Carlin's quote encapsulates the irony and absurdity of attempting to find a definitive meaning to life, only for that meaning to shift. It highlights the constant evolution of our perceptions and beliefs about existence, suggesting that life may never have a single, unchanging definition. This perspective encourages a light-hearted approach to what can often feel like a serious and daunting inquiry.
Themes
In practice
Example use cases
In a speech about the unpredictability of life, you might use this quote to illustrate how our understanding of existence can shift.
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.
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His sister liked to think of herself as Lord Tywin with teats, but she was wrong. Their father had been as relentless and implacable as a glacier, where Cercei was all wildfire, especially when thwarted.
Lies are infinite in number, and the truth so small and singular.
Reality exists in the human mind, and nowhere else.
Life expects of you duties which appear repugnant to you. You must now know that the most important thing is not duties but what permits you to be someone good and just. There are many who will say to you that this is a piece of asocial advice, but you only have to reply to them: When the forms of society are so hard and hostile to life, it is more important to be asocial than inhuman