The World is Our Amusement Park
“The world is like a ride at an amusement park. And when you choose to go on it, you think it’s real because that’s how powerful our minds are. And the ride goes up and down and round and round. It has thrills and chills and it’s very brightly colored and it’s very loud and it’s fun, for a while.
“Some people have been on the ride for a long time, and they begin to question: Is this real, or is this just a ride?
“And other people have remembered, and they come back to us, they say, ‘Hey — don’t worry, don’t be afraid, ever, because this is just a ride …’
“And we … kill those people. Ha ha, ‘Shut him up. We have a lot invested in this ride. Shut him up. Look at my furrows of worry. Look at my big bank account and my family. This just has to be real.’ It’s just a ride. But we always kill those good guys who try and tell us that, you ever notice that? And let the demons run amok.
“But it doesn’t matter, because — it’s just a ride. And we can change it anytime we want.
“It’s only a choice. No effort, no work, no job, no savings and money. A choice, right now, between fear and love. The eyes of fear want you to put bigger locks on your doors, buy guns, close yourself off. The eyes of love instead see all of us as one.
“Here’s what we can do to change the world, right now, to a better ride.
“Take all that money we spend on weapons and defenses each year and instead, spend it feeding and clothing and educating the poor of the world, which it would pay for many times over, not one human being excluded, and we could explore space, together, both inner and outer, forever, in peace.”
~The Late Great Bill Hicks
Read More: Bill Hicks, life, war, peace, amusement park
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January 24th, 2007 at 5:15 pm
I love Bill Hicks.
He views here are very Buddhist.
January 24th, 2007 at 5:46 pm
Buddhism…one of the few religions that doesn’t reject other religions. That alone speaks volumes and wins MY respect.
I’ve even heard Buddhist teachers encourage people of other religions to stick with their native faith and just adopt the philosophical teachings of Buddhism. I like that. Wisdom is wisdom. Truth is truth. No matter which book you find it written, you know it when you meet it, right?
I like Bill Hicks, too, though I only recently discovered him…it sure touched off a frenzy of youtube viewing digging up his clips. I know the particular long quote above is posted all over the Internet already, but I just felt like plastering it on a page one more time—some things need to be screamed over and over, if not to change minds, at least to give some confidence and assurance to people who have a similar reality view, who might otherwise think they’re crazy for thinking such stuff.
March 6th, 2007 at 4:33 am
bill the prophet……i loved him then, i love him now…….bill just maybe the best American ever(apologies to Sun Ra)……what a funny fella…..what a kool teacher……THANK YOU BILL HICKS WITH EVERY FIBRE OF MY BODY,MY SOUL,MY FREE MIND……i just know that Bill is up there helping our collective consciousness, not to mention introducing your grandmother to chuck norriss.
Also,to anyone involved in the marketing industry…….KILL YOURSELF.
there is no justification for what you do.
love and peace
kill yankee
March 6th, 2007 at 6:28 am
Awwww….c’mon, kill yankee; people in the marketing industry gotta eat, too. Maybe instead of killing themselves they should just give themselves a really, really strong slap in the face. That is too funny…grandmother talking to Chuck, hehhehehe. Long Live Bill Hicks!