I Think Its The Duty Of

Attributed to Carlin in various interviews, this line is a distillation of his approach to material throughout his career. His most celebrated act of line-crossing was the "Seven Dirty Words" monologue from the 1972 album Class Clown, which led directly to the US Supreme Court case FCC v. Pacifica Foundation (1978), establishing the government's right to regulate "indecent" broadcast content. Carlin's deliberateness — the word "deliberately" is key — insists that transgression without purpose is mere shock, while purposeful transgression is the comedian's proper job.