The trouble with the rat race is that even if you win, you're still a rat.
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.
Interpretation
What this quote means
This quote highlights how a small minority of people can overshadow the majority's virtue, often due to media attention.
Lily Tomlin's quote underscores the reality that the majority of people are decent and hardworking, yet it is the few who engage in negative behaviors that tend to attract the most attention. This paradox highlights societal dynamics where sensationalism overshadows everyday decency, drawing attention to the importance of recognizing the positive contributions of the majority while also critiquing the system that allows the minority to gain prominence.
Themes
In practice
Example use cases
In a speech addressing community values, one might use this quote to emphasize the importance of recognizing the good in people.
More from Lily Tomlin
All quotes βSometimes I worry about being a success in a mediocre world.
The road to success is always under construction.
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?
Sometimes I feel like a figment of my own imagination.
Similar quotes
I know what you're thinking. Did he fire six shots or only five? Well, to tell you the truth, in all this excitement, I've kinda lost track myself. But being as this is a .44 magnum, the most powerful handgun in the world, and would blow your head clean off, you've got to ask yourself one question: "Do I feel lucky?" Well, do ya, punk?
Making people laugh is a really fabulous thing because it means you're getting deep inside somebody, into their psyche, and their ability to look at themselves.
Philanthropist, n.: A rich (and usually bald) old gentleman who has trained himself to grin while his conscience is picking his pocket.
I may be drunk, Miss, but in the morning I will be sober and you will still be ugly.
That's what's so stupid about the whole magic thing, you know. You spend twenty years learning the spell that makes nude virgins appear in your bedroom, and then you're so poisoned by quicksilver fumes and half-blind from reading old grimoires that you can't remember what happens next.
I'm not a man who constantly thinks up jokes. But I think it's very important to be able to see the funny side of life and its joyful dimension and not to take everything too tragically. I'd also say it's necessary for my ministry. A writer once said that angels can fly because they don't take themselves too seriously. Maybe we could also fly a bit if we didn't think we were so important.