Stephen Fry and John Cleese explore obsession with money and power - ‘Walk away!’

‘The greatest power you can have is the power to walk away.’
Stephen Fry and John Cleese discuss the power of money and greed.
#JohnCleese #stephenfry
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[@juresaiyan]

Stephen Fry's knowledge never ceases to amaze me. What an incredibly well-read and well-spoken man.

[@robgraham9234]

Always amazes me that if you can quote obscure historical an literary trivia you are automatically considered intelligent.

[@juresaiyan]

@@robgraham9234 Stephen can do far more than that.

[@robgraham9234]

@@juresaiyan not saying he can’t. Just making the observation about quoting arts based trivia is considered intellectual, but science based trivia makes you a geek cellar dweller.

[@simonrmerton]

@@robgraham9234The pessimist looks through a microscope. The optimist looks through a telescope. - Michael Faraday (paraphrased)

[@fredelmo]

​@@robgraham9234But who in the world thinks that about people with science based trivia? Is Neil Degrasse Tyson considered a geek cellar dweller? I don't think so? Lack of any kind of social skills makes you a cellar dweller geek, not having knowledge of any kind. And if the cellar makes you happy, then F what anyone else thinks.

[@vahidshahadi9817]

I could just listen to these 2 legends for hours and hours 👏😀 Wish I had half their intellect and charisma.

[@bomination.]

john cleese and stephen fry were diagnosed with a mental illness many years ago...... nuff said.

[@lor3999]

I wish I had half their money too, sorry but…you know … 🤷🏻‍♀️

[@plasticbudgie]

​@@lor3999Thats strange, whilst listening to them speak the thought of money never crossed my mind once.

[@MICHAELSMITH-fl7du]

If someone offered me half their money or a small fraction of their time I would gladly accept the later.

[@astragreen]

I wouldn’t, incidentally has John has a stroke or something? Why can’t he open his mouth when he speaks!

[@sidewaysdesign]

Two icons in an fascinating and engaging conversation. In a classic club setting. With cats. And nuns in habits.

[@gustavosaliola]

And other people chatting in silence. What a bold and creative setup. Enjoyed so much.

[@jeffclement2468]

Fascinating. Thought provoking. Light years ahead of anything on the telly here in the States. 👍🌹

[@bomination.]

john cleese and stephen fry were diagnosed with a mental illness many years ago...... nuff said.

[@strategystuff5080]

Glad to see Cleese in such good health

[@krismctopher7]

It's all that goose stepping he's been doing.

[@davidthomas477]

"The pigs are now wearing trousers" love it. Thank you Stephen and John. Truth is like fresh air in a fast factory.

[@virtualal]

Brilliant. GB News has played a blinder just letting Cleese bring on whoever he wants, as opposed to the usual format of guests appearing because they have a book or film to plug

[@johnodee100]

GB News isn't all bad when they can host two such British cultural icons. Stephen Fry just amazes people with his erudition; he comes across as a real gentleman also. Long may they prosper.

[@alexandertaylor7316]

Have a look at their most popular videos before saying it's not all bad.

[@nonyobisniss7928]

@@alexandertaylor7316 Do you know what "it's not all bad" means? The existence of this single video which is not bad is sufficient to say "it's not all bad". Looking at other videos is completely unnecessary once we have an example of a video which isn't bad if all we are going to say is "it's not all bad." Nevertheless I did have a look at the channel's most popular videos, and am left wondering which of them you find so bad. There's a bunch of dull tabloid stuff about Schofield and the royals, but I'd just consider that boring not bad, and a lot of people clearly take an interest in it.

[@danielmcleanfisher]

It’s actually fairly balanced Fry hates the tories

[@bomination.]

john cleese and stephen fry were diagnosed with a mental illness many years ago...... nuff said.

[@djtaylormade1195]

​@@alexandertaylor7316Made yourself look a bit of a knob there didn't you

[@BobSmith-fx9sz]

"We wanted flying cars, instead we got 140 characters." - Peter Thiel

[@andishawjfac]

Peter Thiel was one of the ones promising the "flying cars" and all he delivered was more useless companies and a load of funding for dodgy politics. He's a total hypocrite who is reaping the benefits of hind sight.

[@johnnycumlately4295]

Nice

[@Lindsaybkk]

Peter Thiel who is gay but does all he can do damage image of LGBTQ people Peter Thiel who wants to start his own Olympics but without restrictions on drugs use to enhance performance. Peter Thiel may be a billionaire but not a person worth respecting.

[@xeevids]

"The darkest word of our era ... is disruption" - Thank you Mr Fry

[@YAMISOOLD2009]

I love listening to anything Stephen Fry says! Not only what he says but the manner in which he says it! Thanks for posting this!

[@markwheatley2]

It's not often I comment on KZbin. But two absolute legends in one place. Love it. Great comment and interview.

[@Fedoratip79]

That power to walk away is the greatest power a civilized man has.

[@ngiallag2792]

this has to be one of the gems of a show. john cleese interviewing people who might oppose is views and agree with his views and find humour and who knows maybe some intelligent conversation and laughter from both view points .

[@NikiBechusWTF]

Stephen expressed it eloquently, and I think many of us shared the same perspective. We witnessed these brilliant young entrepreneurs with a groundbreaking technology, driven by the noble goal of improving our world. However, it is disheartening that the inherent problems of human nature, such as greed and corruption, have persisted and even intensified.

[@matfix1258]

A change for the worse as I often say, which happens to most new things now I think. New Novelties, for the sake of it being NEW, not the same or better. 😑

[@johnbunyon399]

Zzzzzzzzzz

[@EvelynBaron]

My dad was an idealist and would have had the same reaction. Glad his optimism about the human spirit remained untarnished when he died.

[@AD-kv9kj]

"Human nature" is what we make of it. We all want the world to work towards improvement of life for all with all this new tech, rather than just churning out novelties for profit-spinning, yet the very systems we run the world by are of their very nature all about competitive personal gain. We grow up in this world being trained and conditioned from everywhere in society to be competitive, selfish and greedy...if you don't fight for personal gain you end up on the streets, for one thing. People are deeply confused about what they want and what society ought to be. Big business and governments who are now fully just big business facilitators are actively spreading more disinformation than ever before to make people keep supporting products and systems that make them trillions in profits while damaging society, the environment and people's brains. Our systems need fundamental change, our education syllabuses and approach need fundamental change and WE need to fundamentally change our priorities together in order to even begin to make that happen. Not change as in capitalism vs communism nonsense, both those systems are archaic now.

[@paulmcgreevy3011]

Every product you own is a product of human endeavour in exchange for income.

[@tonydolton4544]

Great interview please upload the full version so we can listen to it on the go.

[@elliottdann202]

I didn’t expect Stephen fry on gb news, but that’s cool 😎👌

[@leehighland5435]

GB news is going liberal.

[@TessaTickle]

he's one of the few who have the honesty to recognise John Cleese's importance in British culture. And no, I'm not talking about Faulty Towers, I'm talking about The Life of Brian and how Cleese and his gang took on the heads of the church and contributed to liberalising society. Amongst the beneficiaries: gays. I am sure that Stephen Fry acknowledges this in some way at some level.

[@erniehudson1]

He is there because of Cleese and who wouldn't?

[@solaris6070]

​@@TessaTickleOr you could say that his gang put the boot into anything remotely sacred and left us the 'liberalised' mess we now have.

[@TessaTickle]

@@solaris6070 right but it's also true that attitudes were way too strict in the UK in the 1960s. Homosexuality was literally illegal til 1967 !!!!

[@rossgerring]

Disruption is nothing new. It's the nature of innovation, and has been happening since the dawn of time: the control of fire, agriculture, writing systems, printing press, steam engine, electricity, antibiotics, the internet, iphones, artificial intelligence... It's just the frequency, size and speed of the innovations/disruptions that differ.

[@pbode1]

As Peter Gabriel once wrote "man, I'm losing sound and sight of people who can tell me wrong from right" ... I am still happy that there's folks like Stephen around who can still provide guidance - and of all things, hope in this new 'Age of Anxiety'

[@jeanjacqueslundi3502]

I'm not religious, but if it weren't for my interest in spirituality I couldn't look to this world and hope to find such people. I can see how for people disenchanted by our institutions these days.......with no hollistic worldview with which to frame what happens on planet Earth (even if just hypotheticals).....it must create an inordiate ammount of suffering.

[@christophedevos3760]

Thank you for sharing this wonderful conversation between these two outstanding gentlemen. It reminds me what Simon Schama described in his book 'The embarrasment of the riches' about the Dutch golden age, an entrepreneurial spirit that soon turned into the same kind of greed and fraud basically (the tulipomania, the wind cars, etc.), nothing really new.

[@markpond8136]

Brilliant … fantastic words delivered with pure class

[@billthomas2652]

Is the irony lost on anyone that we're watching this discussion about how terrible disruption is on KZbin?

[@tomnylundvideos]

Absolutely brilliant conversation❤

[@shirleydanby4123]

If only the BBC , channel 4 and the rest of the mainstream media would have such frank conversations hey. Love these 2 gentlemen. May it long continue. I dont agree with everything GB news and other alternative news providers come out with but they are quickly becoming my reliable source of news and cultural opinion.

[@CarinTibellAhlin]

It's really good for one's mind to come across a conversation these days that is actually conveying something true and real and who better to do it than these two fantastic people. I'm truly grateful to them both for these videos. Keep them coming, please. They are much needed. ❤ Carin in Sweden

[@NeoAnderson101]

GB News should feature videos by these two legends every day !

[@karelbh775]

Nothing better than deep conversation with great minded people to open your opinions and challenge the world

[@nikanur3766]

Such a brilliant talk! 👏👏👏

[@danielg5285]

Amazing ppl, both of them, please keep doing these, always love seeing them

[@sunshine201063]

this conversation is beautiful, setting, the mix of nuns, engishmen pondering knowledgeably and the old club style of cigar smoking business men, intellectuals seeking the next riveting idea... throw in some kittens, period wood furnishings, cozy fireplace....and the mood is set for uncomfortable truths to be exchanged comfortably...classic.

[@raindancer80]

It's all related to the fear of helplessness. The need to acquire more to put yourself in an unassailable position where it is impossible for you to be weak, or to have anyone hold anything over you. We all have it to an extent, but most don't get in a position to acquire more endlessly. They've gamed the system now so that whatever happens in financial markets they are protected. But it won't save them in the end. It's just fear.

[@xslonk]

2 absolute legends, still as talented and principled as one could hope to be.

[@youarewhatyouare]

Two good blokes who we should see and hear more of

[@outthere9370]

So true! Greed. Nothing new under the sun. Our modern lives are now been driven by a "new" wave of greed. 😱

[@janeleray132]

Money talks. But it don’t sing and dance and it don’t talk. Thank you Neil Diamond. I remember this from a young age and wasn’t even a particular fan of his. But he sang sense.

[@StatusQuonald]

These legends should have a podcast with other great comedic minds

[@georgegoddard6982]

Yeah especially robin Williams he appears with the apparently great oxbridge wit and I might add Oscar wild reincarnation Steven fry on a television , can’t remember the name of it but robin Williams wipes the floor with him , hope somebody out there can remember what programme it was!

[@dangoleshootnetwork6036]

I love how the cats expression was in such agreement with what was being said.

[@ericmiyoda6238]

These two actors are my favorite comic geniuses.

[@georgegoddard6982]

Yes all geniuses get educated at Oxford or Cambridge, don’t they!

[@Fiawordweaver]

Brilliant🎉Here’s two people I would love to be included in conversation with❤

[@harleygould7255]

To be perfectly honest, if I had that opportunity, I'd likely sit there mute, just to listen to them and (perhaps) pick their brains. But mostly just listen.

[@kevinperry2865]

Very true words

[@jamesg4347]

My first thought when I saw the title was "imagine two multi-millionaires talking about obsession with money". But to be fair they made some valid points.

[@harleygould7255]

To be fair, I imagine they are both millionaires (as they should be, considering all the good work they've done), but at the same time, the quality of their work is exactly why they are millionaires. ...or they at least should be.

[@EmperorSigismund]

Also to be fair both are basically working class compared to the people they are talking about like Bill Gates and Mark Zucherberg. Those two alone have a net worth that is about half the GDP of Sydney which contains 5 million people.

[@plasticbudgie]

This was great!! Subscribed! An intellectual conversation instead of what ive been used to with the likes of BBC etc. Cancelling my TV licence was the best decision ive made recently.

[@AP-gb3eh]

So well said 👏👏👏👏👏👏. ☮️

[@dougdaniels7848]

Maybe disrupting the taxi industry in the UK was bad, but here in the States it has made things much, much better.

[@skillzie2]

No, it was also good here, Uber is obviously better than what we had before. Weird takes imo, basically anti-capitalist from Stephen Fry 🤔

[@stu7803]

Well John, you have rediscovered your metier. Keep up the good work on GB News. I am thoroughly enjoying your programmes.

[@GET_YOUTUBE_VIEWS_11]

This video was so inspiring, it made me want to go out and chase my dreams.

[@johnbunyon399]

I painted my wall magnolia as the celebrated themselves. My work unpaid,theirs as boring as my paint colour

[@davidathay5793]

Two of my favorites just chatting... This is brilliant!!!

[@ChristopherBirk-nw6wf]

How well said! It’s so true!

[@davidnewman8479]

.... more of this please. Free speech allows ideas like this, however misconceived, to allow us to make our own minds up on "celebrities' views"

[@user-pj8ed8il9s]

???

[@TheHkluivert]

Excuse me?!

[@justalonesoul5825]

lmao wtf are you even talking about, do you even have a clue yourself?

[@alanmusicman3385]

Stephen is right about the tech industry having become all about money after starting out with some degree of altruism. BUt all industries go through that - railways, cars, radio, TV.... - all started with a few people looking to use inventions to make people's lives richer or better and when they'd proved the value of whatever it was - those pioneers became (or were replaced by) bread-heads. It's happened time after time and ever more shall be - unfortunately.

[@bomination.]

because of capitalism.

[@dreadcthulhu5]

@@bomination. Because of greed, which can exist in any system, but you probably learned your views in the very institutions that are destroying the world with their rhetoric.

[@hermanhelmich]

Exactly! Nothing new really Same thing is happening with AI

[@KimClark-1]

Being “all about the money” hasn’t happened to Wikipedia yet. Hope it never does. Jimmy Wales insists on no commercials and asks for donations to keep the website going.

[@dreadcthulhu5]

@@KimClark-1 Wikipedia has a clear bias in one direction though and as such I wouldn't trust it. It's also notoriously inaccurate and that's why teachers don't allow it as a source for research.

[@lindaroberts8612]

Absolutely no truer word has been spoken. Thankyou Stephen 🧡🧡🧡

[@WatchTV-sr4qv]

I feel like it's the end of an era where I can still listen to a human who is such a lovely man and giving all that knowledge through his life experience and I just could listen to it for many hours. Unfortunately, there will be no more normal humans who can talk through life experience anymore because of not very lovely AI.

[@kunstspielklavier185]

Sure. Why wouldn’t you blame AI for problems that have started if not persisted a long time before AI came along. People are just consuming content these days instead of knowledge or information. Students in schools are required to function and regurgitate a curriculum instead of truely learning and understanding let alone debating any topic. People are becoming more and more antisocial and dare I say stupid. Don‘t need AI for that.

[@kunstspielklavier185]

AI has nothing to do with people not talking to each other any more. They are just to busy screaming at each other at the top of their voices.

[@frikkieventer9144]

"Move fast and break things" not sure how Zuckerberg meant it. But in general this is a motto in software engineering, meaning try new methods, don't be afraid to fail. Which is quite noble I think

[@ghislainesweet8273]

It can be noble… the the context of Facebook, it can also break things! 😅

[@A5RK]

The crossover we didn’t know we needed! Just listening to them calms me down so much!

[@sunnyfords9663]

Well said!

[@marachime]

just seeing the two of them in the same space is honestly magic

[@Thethriftylife]

This is a great conversation between two very wise gentleman.

[@johnt8453]

Also, the horse and carriage was disrupted by the combustion engine, the canals were disrupted by the road builders, the shipping industry by the aviation industry etc etc etc. To be fair Stephen this is simply the way of progress. Does progress equate to improved quality or a better life? That is another discussion !

[@SamIAm-kz4hg]

"Stephen this is simply the way of progress." I'm not sure that's quite true. The things you mention were really slow, taking years and decades to really have impact. Some of the things we're talking about now can have a huge impact in an incredibly short amount of time. Having the taxi industry thrown in to chaos essentially overnight IS disruptive. It causes a lot of problems very quickly. I think that is what they are really talking about.

[@johnt8453]

You're right that things happen quicker now especially when the Internet is driving it. I do think that their central point is about greed vs social benefit. This is my point the it has always been there. The shift from coal to oil / gas may have happened slowly but the degree of disruption is still seen in 'mining communities' across the UK. The advent of computers and the arrival of automation turned manufacturing and its demand for labour upside down. The 70s and 80s were not a happy time in the UK because of this disruption and the working class was huge and poor. The few that got rich however , got very rich. The reference to "pigs in trousers" is the clincher, it's all about greed. The point you're making about pace of change is also a valid one. Greed on steroids with no thought for the downside to those already working in those industries and little done to protect them. The Thatcher approach to the miners and their communities..... @@SamIAm-kz4hg

[@patbrennan6572]

The pigs are all wearing trousers , Well stated Mr Orwell .

[@user-xt6rl8fm1c]

Great show

[@christinalonnborg1312]

I just love Stephen Fry and of course John Cleese. Mr Stephen Fry is one brilliant man who is so knowledgeable and John Cleese is one to make people laugh as well as Stephen too. ❤️

[@aaropajari7058]

The power to walk away is supported by having some of that money already.

[@ClintLock1]

Or knowing you can make more. Or realizing you don't need all that much money at all.

[@aaropajari7058]

@@ClintLock1 Yes. Agreed.

[@bradmodd7856]

money is just a form of power, you spend your power to buy things, you get power when you are paid, everyone wants power, money is just a transmission method

[@colclark107]

Great conversation with two wonderful human beings! I can't help but think the nuns in the background of Stephen Fry are Monty Python props . . . !

[@hermionegardener3796]

they both have enough to live comfortably

[@jacobpaint]

I had no idea what I was watching and was distracted by the unusual setting with extras (inc some in nun costumes) sitting around pretending to talk and cats milling about… if I had just known it was Cleese’s show then it all would have made sense. Now I need to watch the whole hour of dinosaurs.

[@TallinnTadgh]

Stephen hits the nail on the head there with his talk of a new breed of people wanting to 'disrupt' the old order of things. I'm pleased to say that i have had no dealings with Airbnb, Uber, facebook or that disrupter of retail markets named after one of the worlds vital lungs...and whaddya know i'm quite able to carry on my life without making the owners of such businesses any richer! John also makes the point, with which i concur, that these 'disrupters' aren't doing it to do something supremely well but purely to make money.

[@raepaul8158]

Wonderful!

[@georgeash4008]

Stephen Fry nailed it.

[@colinbaldwin8769]

Utterly true. Thank God people are waking up

[@tomtomdezzy2141]

Two epic British icons - Beautiful listening

[@tomtomdezzy2141]

Sorry , I should have said Two British Gods

[@johnnycumlately4295]

Two amazing, learned men.

[@tombrunila2695]

And both have been and are amassing them as fast as they can.

[@terri6854]

Monty Python were great disrupters.

[@Forayou]

Gosh, I love them.

[@Rael64]

1. intrinsic vs extrinsic (doing something for the sake of doing it well vs making money, power, etc.) 2. disrupt the disrupters: buy local - make the best of your local economy; turn off the internet/social media/etc.; shun the mass-produced, the cheaper-is-better attitude, etc.

[@user-fm5hx3rh5q]

Well said. I am 75, feel broken hearted all the time. You?

[@ryltair]

A lot to unpack from a 4.5 minute video. I recognise the term disruption from working in digital. It used to be an ever present term in sales pitches and opinion pieces. No one really stopped to question disruption. It was seen as smart people breaking the status quo and in order to stay ahead, you had to disrupt even quicker. Never expected Stephen Fry to mention this word.

[@hugostiglitz6914]

My father gave me some advice. He said, never wait to sell something when you absolutely have to and never wait to buy something when you absolutely need to!

[@Kevin6059]

Two of my favorite dudes.

[@tobiastrier]

YES! Disruption is a curse!

[@philippbuschmann4125]

It is not the individuals, they are interchangeable. It is that humans have outsized power compared to their intellect, and minute notions of time. It is really a runaway reaction that will eat itself.

[@ClintLock1]

true. we think of innovation as a race to power & prosperity. but in fact, it is a form of evolution, and we have no idea what we will become.

[@CarinTibellAhlin]

I appreciate talks like this one. They are too rare these days. Here, two wise and brave persons I really admire. Lots of gratitude 🙏 and ❤, Carin in Sweden

[@jenn280]

oh my. I'm sorry. ... on another note, so happy to see Mr. Cleese so bright and healthy

[@davidhogan5133]

Amen!🌄

[@hawkeyenextgen7117]

Put these two legends in Parliament right now.

[@caroledrury1411]

Wow!❤

[@stephenberry8658]

I love Stephen Fry and John Cleese, but we also love Airbnbs and interacting with amazing hosts in delightful places... By contrast we dislike impersonal hotel or motel rooms or cruise ships... We want the escape the maddening crowds.

[@daveb1242]

Spot on

[@markblundell9461]

How accurate his insight is.

[@Ninoluna1111]

LOVE AND LIGHT TO YOU GENTLEMEN!!!❤😊

[@nemovidet2111]

People said the same thing about television in the late 1950's. TV is one-way communication, the internet is two-way. It may be called the "world wide web" ---but people run and hide in their own little corner, not understanding what the rest of the world is all about.

[@MilesMcCusker]

Not that it really matters, but I think "move fast and break things" is more to do with a style of software development and more broadly product development than it is to do with being intrinsically disruptive.

[@are56]

I love these two guys - but what´s up with the nuns and the knight armor in the background?? It looks like a medieval castle😄

[@derekcummins9088]

Well he was in Python😊

[@technicaltrialsandtribulat4574]

it is a medieval castle :)

[@janelloyd4332]

Brilliant Steven Fry

[@Icneumone7]

1984 was a good premonition, but Animal farm was the real revelation.

[@Yanquetino]

So true that it hurts!

[@rafflesxyz4800]

Yes chaps but when we haven't got your millions, having the choice to use Airbnb, and Uber taxis, and saving hundreds / thousands of pounds is literally life saving!

[@JemMawson]

"Move fast and break things" is a phrase that applies to not being afraid to break your own product - as opposed to moving slow and being beaten by your competition. In software you can always fix what you break. So the meaning is not as grand as Fry interpreted it.

[@k1k2lee]

Lucky to bump into Fry at the old English shop in Santa Monica a true Gentleman

[@RikimaruNobunaga]

Legend

[@EvelynBaron]

My 2 favorite guys ... is there a longer discussion? Both brilliant monologists would have respectfully loved equal time, on a subject on which they manifestly agree. Possibly just a clip?

[@harleygould7255]

Oh, I think having them on a show in a conversation where they disagreed would be a fantastic debate. Both would be respectful, and have honest and sincere opinions, and guaranteed, the conversation/debate would remain civil, and on the subject, and not turn into some silly name calling nonsense that usually represents "debate' these days.