You don’t have to be the Dalai Lama to tell people that life’s about change.

Cleese’s line uses the Dalai Lama as shorthand for an unimpeachably wise spiritual authority, then undercuts the need for such credentials to state a basic truth: change is intrinsic to life. The humor comes from the contrast between lofty religious gravitas and a plain, almost obvious observation. Implicitly, the quote critiques our tendency to demand gurus for insights we already know, and it encourages a more pragmatic acceptance of impermanence. In Cleese’s comic worldview, wisdom is not only for saints; it can be expressed in everyday language, and recognizing change is less a mystical revelation than a practical starting point for living.