Be yourself on stage. Nobody else can be you and you have the law of supply and demand covered.
This is where we are at right now, as a whole. No one is left out of the loop. We are experiencing a reality based on a thin veneer of lies and illusions. A world where greed is our God and wisdom is sin, where division is key and unity is fantasy, where the ego-driven cleverness of the mind is praised, rather than the intelligence of the heart.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote critiques modern society's focus on materialism and ego, suggesting that true wisdom and unity are lacking.
In this quote, Bill Hicks reflects on the current state of society, highlighting how superficial values and deceit have taken precedence over genuine wisdom and connection. He paints a picture of a world where greed dominates, division is rampant, and the superficial intelligence of the mind is idolized, overshadowing the deeper emotional intelligence that comes from the heart. Hicks calls for a recognition of these issues and a shift away from ego-driven pursuits towards a more heartfelt understanding of reality.
Themes
In practice
Example use cases
During a speech about social justice, one might use this quote to emphasize the need for honesty and unity in fighting inequality.
More from Bill Hicks
All quotes →I'm not into those kind of rivalries. I remember standing out in front of Stratford, minding my own business. Carload of about eighty kids would pull up: 'STRATFORD SUCKS!' Am I supposed to run after these guys? I'd just stand there, you know. They'd back up. 'STRATFORD SUCKS! ...STRATFORD SUCKS!' I'd say, 'I know. I go there. You're wasting gas, man.
I go to dance clubs...about once a year just to justify the other 364 days I spend in my apartment going 'God, what idiots!'
Why is marijuana against the law? It grows naturally on our planet, serves a thousand different functions, all of them positive. To make marijuana against the law is like saying that God made a mistake.
To make marijuana against the law is like saying God made a big mistake.
What do you say we lighten things up and talk about abortion?
Similar quotes
Perhaps we cannot prevent this world from being a world in which children are tortured. But we can reduce the number of tortured children.
So farewell hope, and with hope farewell fear,Farewell remorse: all good to me is lost;Evil,be thou my good.
Life is tragic. You are tiny and flawed and ignorant and weak, and everything else is huge, complex, and overwhelming.
There are more dead people than living. And their numbers are increasing. The living are getting rarer.
For there is but one essential justice which cements society, and one law which establishes this justice. This law is right reason, which is the true rule of all commandments and prohibitions. Whoever neglects this law, whether written or unwritten, is necessarily unjust and wicked.
Men are rather reasoning than reasonable animals for the most part governed by the impulse of passion. This is a truth well understood by our adversaries who have practised upon it with no small benefit to their cause. For at the very moment they are eulogizing the reason of men & professing to appeal only to that faculty, they are courting the strongest & most active passion of the human heart - VANITY!