--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: This is where we are at right now, as a…" description: "\"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 illusio..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/cce/bill-hicks-970_cleverness_this-is-where-we-are-at-right-now-as-a-w_2791485.jpg" --- # This is where we are at right now, as a whole. No one is… ![“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…” quote by Bill Hicks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/cce/bill-hicks-970_cleverness_this-is-where-we-are-at-right-now-as-a-w_2791485.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/cce/bill-hicks-970_cleverness_this-is-where-we-are-at-right-now-as-a-w_2791485.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/cce/bill-hicks-970_cleverness_this-is-where-we-are-at-right-now-as-a-w_2791485.jpg) > “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.” [Bill Hicks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-hicks/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. He critiques modern society's deception, greed, and the dominance of ego over heart, urging awareness of false narratives. **In simple terms:** Society is built on lies and greed, ignoring heart wisdom. Key Takeaway Question the narratives and seek authentic connection. Themes society deception greed ego heart truth Mood cynical critical reflective Type observational philosophical When to use this quote - media consumption - political discourse - personal relationships - community building Key Concepts philosophy social critique psychology Questions to Reflect On - How do you recognize truth amid pervasive misinformation? - What steps can you take to prioritize heart wisdom over ego? A Different Perspective The quote may overgeneralize and ignore positive aspects of modern life. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Driven](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/driven/) [Ego](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ego/) [Fantasy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fantasy/) [Greed](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/greed/) [Heart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/heart/) [Illusion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/illusion/) [Left out](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/left-out/) [Lying](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/lying/) [Mind](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mind/) [Psychology](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/psychology/) [Reality](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/reality/) [Sin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sin/) [Unity](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/unity/) [Veneer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/veneer/) [World](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/world/) ## Related quotes > [“In the late 1800s a certain man taught Sunday school for over 20 years in a Baptist church; he eventually became the wealthiest man…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-d-fortner/in-the-late-1800s-a-certain-man-taught-sunday-school-for-over-20/) [Michael D. Fortner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-d-fortner/) > [“Separate yourself from the lies and illusions which are not you.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bryant-mcgill/separate-yourself-from-the-lies-and-illusions-which-are-not-you/) [Bryant McGill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bryant-mcgill/) > [“Be contented with the things of the world. Develop greed for God.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shri-radhe-maa/be-contented-with-the-things-of-the-world-develop-greed-for-god/) [Shri Radhe Maa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shri-radhe-maa/) > [“The true mind can weather all the lies and illusions without being lost. The true heart can tough the poison of hatred without being…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lion-turtle/the-true-mind-can-weather-all-the-lies-and-illusions-without-being/) Lion turtle > [There is enough for the need of everyone in this world, but not for the greed of everyone.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mahatma-gandhi/there-is-enough-for-the-need-of-everyone-in-this-world-but-not-for/) [Mahatma Gandhi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mahatma-gandhi/) > [“Love is responsible for nearly every kind of insanity in the world though greed, vanity, and pure meanness contribute their portion to general misery.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/p-n-elrod-2/love-is-responsible-for-nearly-every-kind-of-insanity-in-the-world/) P.N. Elrod > [“This world may be full of greed and tragedy and darkness, but I am fortunate beyond measure to have such people about me.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-gwynne/this-world-may-be-full-of-greed-and-tragedy-and-darkness-but-i-am/) [John Gwynne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-gwynne/) > [I think one of the most pervasive evils in this world is greed and acquiring money for money's sake. Once you have six houses…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kevin-bacon/i-think-one-of-the-most-pervasive-evils-in-this-world-is-greed-and/) [Kevin Bacon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kevin-bacon/) > [“Knowledge of the facts of Bob's life and death changes nothing in the world. Our celebrating his life and grieving over his death, however,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/russell-banks/knowledge-of-the-facts-of-bob-s-life-and-death-changes-nothing-in-the/) [Russell Banks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/russell-banks/) > [One of the key problems of the business world is that greed has become culturally acceptable.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anita-roddick/one-of-the-key-problems-of-the-business-world-is-that-greed-has/) [Anita Roddick](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anita-roddick/) > [The scary truth is, you have to scratch some veneer off to gauge where the moral fiber really is in certain pockets of society.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ani-difranco/the-scary-truth-is-you-have-to-scratch-some-veneer-off-to-gauge-where/) [Ani DiFranco](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ani-difranco/) > [Since the days of Peter the Great, Russians have been maybe Europeans who didn't share in the enlightenment and the reformation, or are they…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brent-scowcroft/since-the-days-of-peter-the-great-russians-have-been-maybe-europeans/) [Brent Scowcroft](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brent-scowcroft/) > [It's the spirit within, not the veneer without, that makes a man.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/baden-powell-de-aquino/it-s-the-spirit-within-not-the-veneer-without-that-makes-a-man/) [Baden Powell de Aquino](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/baden-powell-de-aquino/) > [“Some people’s elegance was only skin-deep, scrape off a little bit of the veneer and you got the real wood—common”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/d-e-stevenson/some-people-s-elegance-was-only-skin-deep-scrape-off-a-little-bit-of/) [D.E. Stevenson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/d-e-stevenson/) > [Drop the veneer periodically and be like "OK, I'm an imperfect human. Let's try to get through this."](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dennis-miller/drop-the-veneer-periodically-and-be-like-ok-i-m-an-imperfect-human/) [Dennis Miller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dennis-miller/) ## More by Bill Hicks > [ I'll smoke, I'll cough, I'll get the tumors, I'll die, deal? Thank you America. \[salutes\] ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-hicks/i-ll-smoke-i-ll-cough-i-ll-get-the-tumors-i-ll-die-deal-thank-you/) [Bill Hicks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-hicks/) > [not all drugs are good.. some of them are great](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-hicks/not-all-drugs-are-good-some-of-them-are-great/) [Bill Hicks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-hicks/) > [If you don't think drugs have done good things for us, then take all of your records, tapes and CD's and burn them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-hicks/if-you-don-t-think-drugs-have-done-good-things-for-us-then-take-all/) [Bill Hicks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-hicks/) > [I don't do drugs anymore... than, say, the average touring funk band.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-hicks/i-don-t-do-drugs-anymore-than-say-the-average-touring-funk-band/) [Bill Hicks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-hicks/) > [How many people disapprove of the job the Conservatives are doing? Seventy percent. Of those same people, how many will vote for them again?…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-hicks/how-many-people-disapprove-of-the-job-the-conservatives-are-doing/) [Bill Hicks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-hicks/) > [BTW A 24 week old embryo is not a human being. You're not a human being until you're in my phone book.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-hicks/btw-a-24-week-old-embryo-is-not-a-human-being-you-re-not-a-human/) [Bill Hicks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-hicks/) > [Christianity has a built-in defense system: anything that questions a belief, no matter how logical the argument is, is the work of Satan by…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-hicks/christianity-has-a-built-in-defense-system-anything-that-questions-a/) [Bill Hicks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-hicks/) > [I'm just trying to rid the world of all these fevered egos that are tainting our collective unconscious...](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-hicks/i-m-just-trying-to-rid-the-world-of-all-these-fevered-egos-that-are/) [Bill Hicks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-hicks/) > [I was told when I grew up I could be anything I wanted: a fireman, a policeman, a doctor – even President, it seemed.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-hicks/i-was-told-when-i-grew-up-i-could-be-anything-i-wanted-a-fireman-a/) [Bill Hicks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-hicks/) > [Good comedy helps people know they're not alone. Great comedy provides an answer.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-hicks/good-comedy-helps-people-know-they-re-not-alone-great-comedy-provides/) [Bill Hicks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-hicks/) > [People ask me what I think about that woman priest thing. What, a woman priest? Women priests. Great, great. Now there's priests of both…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-hicks/people-ask-me-what-i-think-about-that-woman-priest-thing-what-a-woman/) [Bill Hicks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-hicks/) > [Oh sorry, I was taking life seriously.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-hicks/oh-sorry-i-was-taking-life-seriously/) [Bill Hicks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-hicks/) > [I can't watch TV longer than five minutes without praying for nuclear holocaust.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-hicks/i-can-t-watch-tv-longer-than-five-minutes-without-praying-for-nuclear/) [Bill Hicks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-hicks/) > [I'm not really a heavy smoker any more. I only get through two lighters a day now.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-hicks/i-m-not-really-a-heavy-smoker-any-more-i-only-get-through-two/) [Bill Hicks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-hicks/) > [You watch the news these days? It's unbelievable. You think you just walk out your door, you're immediately gonna be raped by some crack-addicted,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-hicks/you-watch-the-news-these-days-it-s-unbelievable-you-think-you-just/) [Bill Hicks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-hicks/) [Explore all 317 Bill Hicks quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-hicks/) ## More Cleverness quotes > [“Rumi observed, “Sell your cleverness and purchase bewilderment.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wayne-w-dyer/rumi-observed-sell-your-cleverness-and-purchase-bewilderment/) [Wayne W. Dyer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wayne-w-dyer/) > [“Passion often makes a madman of the cleverest man, and renders the greatest fools clever.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/francois-de-la-rochefoucauld/passion-often-makes-a-madman-of-the-cleverest-man-and-renders-the/) [François de La Rochefoucauld](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/francois-de-la-rochefoucauld/) > [If we fail to appreciate the soul that Easternism gives us, then what we have is a disconnected, Greco-Roman, Western, egocentric, compartmentalized, reductionist, fragmented,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joel-salatin/if-we-fail-to-appreciate-the-soul-that-easternism-gives-us-then-what/) [Joel Salatin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joel-salatin/) > [A fool is a person who guesses and gets it wrong, a clever man is one who guesses, regardless of time period, and gets…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/voltaire/a-fool-is-a-person-who-guesses-and-gets-it-wrong-a-clever-man-is-one/) [Voltaire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/voltaire/) > [Ultimately, of course, you must decide for yourself whether the subjective psychological effects created by your evolved cognitive biases reflect an objective reality, perhaps…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jesse-bering/ultimately-of-course-you-must-decide-for-yourself-whether-the/) [Jesse Bering](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jesse-bering/) > [Limits have to be set on how far one can simply use the... cleverness that we have to make changes.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leon-kass/limits-have-to-be-set-on-how-far-one-can-simply-use-the-cleverness/) [Leon Kass](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leon-kass/) > [Sometimes people try way too hard to sound clever on Facebook.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/sometimes-people-try-way-too-hard-to-sound-clever-on-facebook/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Many of the greatest men have owed their success to industry rather than to cleverness.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-lubbock/many-of-the-greatest-men-have-owed-their-success-to-industry-rather/) [John Lubbock](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-lubbock/) > [What a curious picture it is to find man, homo sapiens, of divine origin, we are told, seriously considering going underground to escape the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-william-fulbright/what-a-curious-picture-it-is-to-find-man-homo-sapiens-of-divine/) [J. William Fulbright](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-william-fulbright/) > [“Neither the Russians nor the Americans were the cleverest people, or the most experienced, in the world that followed 1945. The French were rather…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/t-r-fehrenbach-2/neither-the-russians-nor-the-americans-were-the-cleverest-people-or/) [T.R. Fehrenbach](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/t-r-fehrenbach-2/) > [Where there is simplicity, there are a hundred Angels, but where there is cleverness - there are none.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ambrose-of-optina/where-there-is-simplicity-there-are-a-hundred-angels-but-where-there/) Ambrose of Optina > [Human integrity is determined by the heart, not by cleverness.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/senora-roy/human-integrity-is-determined-by-the-heart-not-by-cleverness/) [Senora Roy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/senora-roy/) > [In late modernity we grow more and more accustomed to politicians and public figures who are indebted to their appetites for their "values," to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kenny-smith/in-late-modernity-we-grow-more-and-more-accustomed-to-politicians-and/) [Kenny Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kenny-smith/) > [The art of investment has one characteristic that is not generally appreciated. A creditable, if unspectacular, result can be achieved by the lay investor…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/benjamin-graham/the-art-of-investment-has-one-characteristic-that-is-not-generally/) [Benjamin Graham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/benjamin-graham/) > [Books are in no hurry. An act of creation is in no hurry; it reads us, it privileges us infinitely. The notion that it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-steiner/books-are-in-no-hurry-an-act-of-creation-is-in-no-hurry-it-reads-us/) [George Steiner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-steiner/) Browse all 406 Cleverness quotes ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "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. 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