"I'm not concerned about all hell breaking loose, but that a PART of hell will break loose... it'll be much harder to detect"
About this Quote
The line works because it flips our instinct for drama against us. People mobilize for the big, cinematic threat. We scan for smoke and miss the carbon monoxide. Carlin’s capitalization of PART (whether on the page or in performance) is doing rhetorical work: it’s a spotlight on the word everyone wants to skim past. The joke is almost secondary; the real punch is paranoia made rational.
Context matters: Carlin’s late-career persona wasn’t the counterculture imp giggling at dirty words, but the sour prophet of a country anesthetized by consumerism, media spectacle, and political language that launders cruelty. Post-Watergate cynicism, Reagan-era cheer, the rise of 24-hour news, then the security-state expansions of the late 1990s and 2000s - all of it trained Americans to accept “small” infringements as the price of safety or convenience.
Subtext: the scariest control doesn’t need jackboots. It needs your participation, your fatigue, and just enough confusion that you can’t tell where the fire started.
Quote Details
| Topic | Witty One-Liners |
|---|---|
| Source | Help us find the source |
| Cite |
Citation Formats
APA Style (7th ed.)
Carlin, George. (2026, January 18). I'm not concerned about all hell breaking loose, but that a PART of hell will break loose... it'll be much harder to detect. FixQuotes. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/im-not-concerned-about-all-hell-breaking-loose-7230/
Chicago Style
Carlin, George. "I'm not concerned about all hell breaking loose, but that a PART of hell will break loose... it'll be much harder to detect." FixQuotes. January 18, 2026. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/im-not-concerned-about-all-hell-breaking-loose-7230/.
MLA Style (9th ed.)
"I'm not concerned about all hell breaking loose, but that a PART of hell will break loose... it'll be much harder to detect." FixQuotes, 18 Jan. 2026, https://fixquotes.com/quotes/im-not-concerned-about-all-hell-breaking-loose-7230/. Accessed 9 Feb. 2026.









