"All of the biggest technological inventions created by man - the airplane, the automobile, the computer - says little about his intelligence, but speaks volumes about his laziness"
About this Quote
Mark Kennedy’s line lands like a compliment to human ingenuity, then yanks the rug out: those trophy inventions aren’t proof of brilliance so much as evidence of our refusal to walk, wait, or calculate by hand. It’s a neat rhetorical reversal, and it’s political in the way it redirects awe into moral accounting. The airplane, automobile, and computer are culturally coded as triumphs; Kennedy reframes them as elaborate shortcuts, products of impatience masquerading as progress.
The intent is less to dunk on technology than to puncture the self-congratulation that often surrounds it. “Intelligence” here isn’t raw brainpower; it’s wisdom, restraint, and the capacity to live within limits. By implying that our proudest machines are motivated by laziness, he smuggles in a critique of modern convenience: the more we optimize away effort, the more we risk optimizing away competence, attention, and even civic stamina. The subtext is that innovation can be driven by vice as much as virtue, and that motive matters when we decide what to build next.
As a politician, Kennedy is also signaling a familiar governing anxiety: technological advancement outpacing ethical or social maturity. The quip flatters voters’ suspicion that “progress” often means dependency - on systems we don’t understand, on energy we can’t sustainably supply, on habits that erode self-reliance. It works because it turns a shiny narrative into a provocation: if laziness is a hidden engine of modernity, what else are we willing to trade for convenience?
The intent is less to dunk on technology than to puncture the self-congratulation that often surrounds it. “Intelligence” here isn’t raw brainpower; it’s wisdom, restraint, and the capacity to live within limits. By implying that our proudest machines are motivated by laziness, he smuggles in a critique of modern convenience: the more we optimize away effort, the more we risk optimizing away competence, attention, and even civic stamina. The subtext is that innovation can be driven by vice as much as virtue, and that motive matters when we decide what to build next.
As a politician, Kennedy is also signaling a familiar governing anxiety: technological advancement outpacing ethical or social maturity. The quip flatters voters’ suspicion that “progress” often means dependency - on systems we don’t understand, on energy we can’t sustainably supply, on habits that erode self-reliance. It works because it turns a shiny narrative into a provocation: if laziness is a hidden engine of modernity, what else are we willing to trade for convenience?
Quote Details
| Topic | Witty One-Liners |
|---|---|
| Source | Help us find the source |
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