Skip to content
quotesby

I don't understand anything, so there you go : you know what my problem is? I watch too much news, man. That's my problem, that's why I'm so depressed all the time. I figured it out. I watch too much CNN, man. I don't know if you've ever sat around and watched CNN more than, I don't know, 20 hours in one day : I don't recommend that. Watch CNN Headline News for 1 hour, it's the most depressing thing you'll ever fucking do. 'WAR, FAMINE, DEATH, AIDS, HOMELESS, RECESSION, DEPRESSION. WAR, FAMINE, DEATH, AIDS, HOMELESS :' Then, you look out your window : [makes cricket noises] Where's all this shit happening? Ted Turner's making this shit up! Jane Fonda won't sleep with him, he runs to a typewriter: ''By 1992, we will all die of AIDS.' Read that on the air. I don't get laid, no one gets laid!' I'm writing Jane Fonda: 'Will you fuck this guy so we can get some good news, please?' I want to see a well-laid Ted Turner newscast: 'Hey, it's all going to work out. Here's sports.'

Bill Hicks#100

MediaSocietyMental healthNews

About this quote

What does it mean?
He blames excessive news consumption for his depression and mocks the sensationalism of media.
In plain terms
He says watching too much news makes him depressed and suggests stories are made up.
What can you take from it?
Limit exposure to negative media to protect mental health.

Where it applies

  • daily routine
  • media critique
  • self-care

Putting it to work

  • reduce news consumption
  • critique media sensationalism

Questions to consider

  • How does news affect your mood?
  • Is the news cycle designed to scare us?

Another view

It dismisses real global crises as fabrication.

More from Bill Hicks

  1. I don't mean to sound bitter, cold, or cruel, but I am, so that's how it comes out.

    Permalink to quote #99
  2. I can't watch TV longer than 5 minutes without praying for nuclear holocaust.

    Permalink to quote #101
  3. We are the facilitators of our own creative evolution.

    Permalink to quote #98

Related quotes

  1. There's a whole industry of conservatives saying, 'Ah, it's those damn liberals,' and a whole group of liberals saying, 'It's all those damn conservatives'... …

    Peter JenningsPeter Jennings quote #3
  2. The maddest phenomenon in this wholly mad world - that the filming or wirelessing of an event, whether it is the Grand National or an attack in force on the Ma…

    James AgateJames Agate quote #5
  3. African-Americans watch the same news at night that ordinary Americans do.

    Bill ClintonBill Clinton quote #9