Quotessence
Home / Quotes / Quote by Marshall McLuhan

Quote by Marshall McLuhan

“At every turn, while he was investigating the background for his study of Thomas Nashe, he would encounter the Church — what Chesterton called (another book title) The Thing. It was everywhere. At one point, he later told me (and he was never very specific just when that point occurred), he decided that the thing had to be sorted out or he couldn't rest. Either it ws true, or it wasn't. Either the entire matter was true, all of it, exactly as the Church claimed, or it was the biggest hoax ever perpetrated on a gullible mankind. With that choice clearly delineated, he set out to find which was the case. What came next was not more study, but testing. The matter had to be tested — on its own terms: that is, by prayer. He told me that the principal prayer that he used was not some long or complex formula, but simply, "Lord, please, send me a sign." He reported that, almost immediately, not one but a deluge of signs arrived. And they continued to arrive unabated for a long time. As to just what the signs consisted in and what happened next, well, some things must remain private. The reader may deduce the rest from the fact of his conversion. ... -- Eric McLuhan, introduction”

Quote by Marshall McLuhan

Work

The Medium and the Light: Reflections on Religion

Browse quotes and source details for this work. more

Author

Marshall McLuhan
Marshall McLuhan

Marshall McLuhan was a renowned Canadian philosopher, communication theorist, and media theorist whose theories had a profound impact on modern media and communication technologies. His famous 'The Medium is the Message' theory, among others, has influenced the fields of advertising, film, television, and the internet. more

You May Also Like

“Apenas has vivido y sin embargo ya está todo dicho, terminado. Sólo tienes veinticinco años pero tu senda está toda trazada. Los roles asignados, las etiquetas: del orinal de tu primera infancia a la silla de ruedas de tu vejez, todos los asientos están ahí y esperan tu turno. Tus aventuras están tan bien descritas que la revolución más violenta no haría pestañar a nadie. Da igual que bajes la calle lanzando por ahí los sombreros de la gente, cubriéndote la cabeza de basura, descalzo, publicando manifiestos, disparando con un revólver al paso de cualquier usurpador: tu cama ya está hecha en el dormitorio del asilo, tus cubiertos dispuestos en la mesa de los poetas malditos. Barco ebrio, milagro miserable: Harare es una atracción de feria, un viaje organizado. Todo está previsto, todo está preparado hasta el menor detalle: los grandes impulsos del corazón, la fría ironía, la aflicción, la plenitud, el exotismo, la gran aventura, la desesperación. No le venderás tu alma al diablo, no irás, en sandalias, a arrojarte al Etna, no destruirás la séptima maravilla del mundo. Todo está ya preparado para tu muerte: la bala que acabará contigo se fundió hace mucho, las plañideras ya han sido designadas para seguir tu ataúd.”

“What's the good of a story that ain't got a happy endin'?" the girl demanded, crossing her arms. Leo considered. "Maybe it does have a happy ending. At least, when it's actually complete. I mean, this part of it is sad. But maybe something good will come from it still? I suppose you have to read all the legends together to know for sure, but I don't know all of them. This one is sad, but there might be a story out there somewhere to make it happy." The girl nodded. "I'd like to know that story someday.”

“A thought transfixed me: for the first time in my life I saw the truth as it is set into song by so many poets, proclaimed as the final wisdom by so many thinkers. The truth-that love is the ultimate and the highest goal to which a man can aspire. Then I grasped the meaning of the greatest secret that human poetry and human thought and belief have to impart: The salvation of human is through love and in love. I understood how a man who has nothing left in this world still may know bliss, be it only for the brief moment, in the contemplation of his beloved. In a position of utter desolation, when a man cannot express himself in positive action, when his only achievement may consist in enduring his sufferings in the right way-an honorable way-in such a position man can, through loving contemplation of the image he carries of his beloved, achieve fulfillment. For the first time in my life I was able to understand the meaning of the words,"The angels are lost in perpetual contemplation of an infinite glory.”

“Why do you think there aren’t rules to how sex will work? You didn’t want to talk to me about what you wanted. You pushed me into the room so I wouldn’t turn on the light because you knew damn well I would push back on that, didn’t you?” She stayed where she was. “Yes. I don’t want you to see me. I don’t look like one of those girls in a magazine.” He groaned, the sound coming from deep in his chest. “Those girls in the magazines are airbrushed and way too thin. The camera adds pounds so those girls are so skinny I wouldn’t be able to fuck them for fear I would break them. I want a woman, Avery, not some tiny freaking thing whose waistline only proves she doesn’t eat. I want a woman who can take me. I want a woman I can hold on to. So bend over because I want to see your ass. I want to look at it because I’ve been dreaming about it for days. It’s hot and round and so fucking juicy I can’t stand it. Get me hot, Avery. Show me your ass.”