The actual author of this quote is Roger J. Corless, from his book "The Vision of Buddhism: the Space Under the Tree". The original quote is, "We make ourselves miserable by first closing ourselves off from reality and then collecting this and that in an attempt to make ourselves happy by possessing happiness. But happiness is not something I have, it is something I myself want to be. Trying to be happy by accumulating possessions is like trying to satisfy hunger by taping sandwiches all over my body." ( Corless, Robert J. (1998), Vision of Buddhism: The Space Under the Tree, page: 20, pages: 362, publisher: Paragon House, ISBN: 1557782008, retrieved: 2013-03-07 )
“
"Trying to be happy by accumulating possessions is like trying to satisfy hunger by taping sandwiches all over your body"
— George Carlin
What It Means
This is a placeholder explanation generated by the low-overhead model. It interprets ""Trying to be happy by accumulating possessions is like trying to satisfy hunger by taping sandwiches all over your body"" in the context of "The actual author of this quote is Roger J. Corless, from his book "The Vision of Buddhism: the Space Under the Tree". The original quote is, "We make ourselves miserable by first closing ourselves off from reality and then collecting this and that in an attempt to make ourselves happy by possessing happiness. But happiness is not something I have, it is something I myself want to be. Trying to be happy by accumulating possessions is like trying to satisfy hunger by taping sandwiches all over my body." ( Corless, Robert J. (1998), Vision of Buddhism: The Space Under the Tree, page: 20, pages: 362, publisher: Paragon House, ISBN: 1557782008, retrieved: 2013-03-07 )" to mean that wisdom is timeless.
Source:Wikiquote: "George Carlin" (Misattributed: Over the years, dozens of joke lists and rants have been forwarded around the internet and misattributed to George Carlin.)
The 'What it means' explanation text was generated by Google Gemini Flash (accessed January 18, 2026). https://gemini.google.com/app
George Denis Patrick Carlin (May 12, 1937 – June 22, 2008) was an American stand-up comedian, actor, author, singer, voice artist, and comedian, noted especially for his irreverent attitude and his observations on politics, language, psychology, and religion, as well as some taboo subjects.
About George Carlin
George Denis Patrick Carlin (May 12, 1937 – June 22, 2008) was an American stand-up comedian, actor, author, singer, voice artist, and comedian, noted especially for his irreverent attitude and his observations on politics, language, psychology, and religion, as well as some taboo subjects.
