Thursday Thirteen 39: Lines from George Carlin

Comedian George Carlin was a master of the obvious. His keen eye for the world around him and his gift for the best and fewest words to name his observations made him a master of understatement as well as of comedy. "In his always irreverent, often furious social commentary, in his observations of the absurdities of everyday life and language, and in groundbreaking routines like the profane “Seven Words You Can Never Say on Television,” he took aim at what he thought of as the palliating and obfuscating agents of American life — politicians, advertisements, religion, the media and conventional thinking of all stripes" (New York Times)."

Here are 13 lines that express his genius.

1. I think it's the duty of the comedian to find out where the line is drawn and cross it deliberately.
2. Life....is a series of dogs.
3. "I am" is reportedly the shortest sentence in the English language. Could it be that "I do" is the longest sentence?
4. As a matter of principle, I never attend the first annual anything.
5. Frisbeetarianism is the belief that when you die, your soul goes up on the roof and gets stuck.
6. Honesty may be the best policy, but it's important to remember that apparently, by elimination, dishonesty is the second-best policy.
7. I'm completely in favor of the separation of Church and State. My idea is that these two institutions screw us up enough on their own, so both of them together is certain death.
8. I'm not concerned about all hell breaking loose, but that a PART of hell will break loose... it'll be much harder to detect.
9. It's never just a game when you're winning.
10. Some national parks have long waiting lists for camping reservations. When you have to wait a year to sleep next to a tree, something is wrong.
11. There are nights when the wolves are silent and only the moon howls.
12. There's no present. There's only the immediate future and the recent past.
13. Well, if crime fighters fight crime and fire fighters fight fire, what do freedom fighters fight? They never mention that part to us, do they?

Thursday Thirteen