Great Minds to Follow: George Carlin

Good ol' Georgie!

This great man was one of the best comedians ever to walk this planet. A legend who did not give a fuck!
George Carlin was the most important stand-up comedian in America. By the time he died (of heart failure at age 71), the transformation he helped bring about in stand-up had become so ingrained that it's hard to think of Carlin as one of America's most radical and courageous popular artists. But he was.

I discovered Carlin around the time when I was reading Richard Dawkins' book "The God Delusion" (Very thoughtfully written).
I saw the first Zeitgeist film and there he was, doing his bit on how the greatest bullshit story ever told is of religion. I connected to what he was saying instantly and became a fan.

I really wish he was alive today. With the kind of crazy stuff going on right now in the world, I'd really want to hear what he would say. As he liked to call it, The Freak Show!

Another video that I want you guys to see is this one. He talks about language and euphemisms and how everything gets so manipulated today.
Say it for what it is. There's no use for soft language. If people get offended, that's their problem.

Carlin was a product of the counterculture era. Because of his drug use he admitted later in his life. "I lost years. I could have been a pole vaulter in those years, and instead I was kind of like doing hurdles."
Even in his late 60s, Carlin could be as perceptive on the cliches and buzzwords of the era as ever: "I've been uplinked and downloaded. I've been inputted and outsourced, I know the upside of downsizing, I know the downside of upgrading. I'm a high-tech lowlife. A cutting-edge, state-of-the-art, bicoastal multitasker, and I can give you a gigabyte in a nanosecond."

And finally this great interview with Jon Stewart:

Seven of his quotes:

Have you ever noticed that anybody driving slower than you is an idiot, and anyone going faster than you is a maniac?

The reason I talk to myself is because I’m the only one whose answers I accept.

Atheism is a non-prophet organization.

Think of how stupid the average person is, and realize half of them are stupider than that.

If it’s true that our species is alone in the universe, then I’d have to say the universe aimed rather low and settled for very little.

Most people work just hard enough not to get fired and get paid just enough money not to quit.

I have as much authority as the Pope, I just don't have as many people who believe it.