“Our civilization is first and foremost a civilization of means; in the reality of modern life, the means, it would seem, are more important than the ends.”

Source: The Technological Society (1954), p. 19

Adopted from Wikiquote. Last update June 3, 2021. History

Help us to complete the source, original and additional information

Do you have more details about the quote "Our civilization is first and foremost a civilization of means; in the reality of modern life, the means, it would seem…" by Jacques Ellul?
Jacques Ellul photo
Jacques Ellul 125
French sociologist, technology critic, and Christian anarch… 1912–1994

Related quotes

Norman Angell photo

“Political nationalism has become, for the European of our age the most important thing in the world, more important than civilization, humanity, decency, kindness, pity, more important than life itself.”

Norman Angell (1872–1967) British politician

The Unseen Assassins https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.216538/page/n49 (1932), p. 48; in later variants, "pity" was misquoted as "piety" in the Naval War College Review, Vol. 10 (1957), p. 27, and some internet citations have compressed "has become, for the European of our age" to read "has become for our age".

Anthony Burgess photo
John F. Kennedy photo

“I see little of more importance to the future of our country and our civilization than full recognition of the place of the artist.”

John F. Kennedy (1917–1963) 35th president of the United States of America

1963, Speech at Amherst College
Context: The artist, however faithful to his personal vision of reality, becomes the last champion of the individual mind and sensibility against an intrusive society and an officious state. The great artist is thus a solitary figure. He has, as Frost said, a lover's quarrel with the world. In pursuing his perceptions of reality, he must often sail against the currents of his time. This is not a popular role. If Robert Frost was much honored in his lifetime, it was because a good many preferred to ignore his darker truths. Yet in retrospect, we see how the artist's fidelity has strengthened the fibre of our national life. If sometimes our great artist have been the most critical of our society, it is because their sensitivity and their concern for justice, which must motivate any true artist, makes him aware that our Nation falls short of its highest potential. I see little of more importance to the future of our country and our civilization than full recognition of the place of the artist.

Will Durant photo
Al Gore photo
Newton Lee photo

“The meaning of life for human beings is to serve one another for the survival of humanity and the advancement of civilization.”

Newton Lee American computer scientist

ACM Computers in Entertainment (Volume 3, Issue 1, January 2005)

Jacques Ellul photo
A. C. Grayling photo

““Evil” is first and foremost a religious notion. It means whatever a religion dislikes.”

A. C. Grayling (1949) English philosopher

Source: Life, Sex, and Ideas: The Good Life Without God (2002), Chapter 9, “Evil” (p. 33)

“There is in reality no such thing as modern art. Art is carried on up and down in immense cycles through centuries and civilizations.”

Hans Hofmann (1880–1966) American artist

statement in Hans Hofmann: Recent Paintings (1952) Kootz Gallery
1950s

Related topics