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The first thing I said to myself on 9/11 was, 'There go our civil rights.' I found out by comparing notes later that George Carlin and I both said that at the exact same time. That's the first thing that popped into our head.

Penn Jillette

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Penn Jillette
Age: 69
Born: 1955
Born: March 5
Actor
Circus Performer
Comedian
Film Actor
Film Director
Illusionist
Jongleur
Magician
Musician
Novelist
Podcaster
Radio Personality
Greenfield
Massachusetts
Penn Fraser Jillette
Firsts
George
First
Compare
Thing
Civil
Time
Notes
Later
Carlin
Head
Popped
Rights
Comparing
Found
Exact

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The vast majority of people who have guns never hurt anybody.
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I came to magic absolutely hating magic on a very, very deep level.
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You have two choices with Obama. You either believe that he is a man of Christ... or you think he's a liar. And I'm surprised by the number of atheist free thinkers that support Obama, and their argument is essentially, 'He's lying about being religious 'cause you have to do that to get elected.' It's a horrible reason to like somebody.
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For the most part, any serious magic show is not using very much technology newer than theatrical lights.
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If there are two things Penn & Teller stand for, it's the truth & lying, although not necessarily in that order.
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There are two things that have been true throughout history in big hunks. You can find differences in ten years, but in 50 year hunks, 100 years hunks, you'll find two things to be true. One, the world is always getting better. Two, people always think it's getting worse.
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I think that I am willing to risk my life in order to have more freedom.
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Barack Obama is way smarter than Bush - so way, way smarter than me. Obama is way more charismatic than me.
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Freedom means the right to be stupid.
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Technology adds nothing to art. Two thousand years ago, I could tell you a story, and at any point during the story I could stop, and ask, 'Now do you want the hero to be kidnapped, or not?' But that would, of course, have ruined the story. Part of the experience of being entertained is sitting back and plugging into someone else's vision.
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Penn & Teller stopped doing practical jokes, and the reason is we got much too good at it.
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Behaving morally because of a hope of reward or a fear of punishment is not morality. Morality is not bribery or threats. Religion is bribery and threats. Humans have morality. We don't need religion.
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There is this tremendous amount of arrogance and hubris, where somebody can look at something for five minutes and dismiss it. Whether you talk about gaming or 20th century classical music, you can't do it in five minutes. You can't listen to 'The Rite of Spring' once and understand what Stravinsky was all about.
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The best way to fight the terrorists is to have the freest country on earth. You should be able to get on an airplane, and people - that will not possibly happen again.
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Don't waste too much time wishing, hoping, and being envious it'll make you bugnutty.
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Technology adds nothing to art.
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The medium is not the message - the message is the message.
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My whole family is missing that sports gene. I hope I didn't screw that up by marrying a great golfer.
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When someone is trying to interpret something for you, they always have an agenda.
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