Ch III : The Tool
Terre des Hommes (1939)
Context: Transport of the mails, transport of the human voice, transport of flickering pictures — in this century, as in others, our highest accomplishments still have the single aim of bringing men together. Do our dreamers hold that the invention of writing, of printing, of the sailing ship, degraded the human spirit?
It seems to me that those who complain of man's progress confuse ends with means. True, that man who struggles in the unique hope of material gain will harvest nothing worth while. But how can anyone conceive that the machine is an end? It is a tool. As much a tool as is the plough. The microscope is a tool. What disservice do we do the life of the spirit when we analyze the universe through a tool created by the science of optics, or seek to bring together those who love one another and are parted in space?
“…enjoyed Dravidian transports.”
Fiction, Tremor of Intent (1966)
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Anthony Burgess 297
English writer 1917–1993Related quotes
“What is it with you, sex, and modes of transportation?”
Source: Reflected in You
“Public transport is functionality for people not engineers.”
“Het Laatste Nieuws” (December 2001), p. 16.
“The best men are but men, and are sometimes transported with passion.”
11 How. St. Tr. 1206.
Trial of Sir Edward Hales (1686)
“Transported with the view, I'm lost
In wonder, love and praise.”
No. 453 (9 August 1712).
The Spectator (1711–1714)
Context: When all thy mercies, O my God,
My rising soul surveys,
Transported with the view, I'm lost
In wonder, love and praise.
“Sharks are hardy creatures, but they do not thrive on public transportation.”
Source: Nonfiction, I'll Mature When I'm Dead (2010), p. 83
“I'm suspicious of any mode of transportation that requires a running start.”
on flying; quoted in [John E. McNamara, Remembering Alan's Humor, 2006, http://lists.w3.org/Archives/Public/public-memoria/2006Jun/0009.html, 2006-12-26]
“We already spoke of lowering costs of food, labor, and transportation.”
2009, Speech: The Socio-Economic Peace Program of Senator Francis Escudero
“I can transport matter — anything — at the speed of light, perfectly.”
André Delambre (David Hedison) to his wife Hélène
The Fly (1958)
Context: I can transport matter — anything — at the speed of light, perfectly. Of course this is only a crude beginning, but I've stumbled on the most important discovery since man sawed off the end of a tree trunk and found the wheel. The disintegrator-integrator will change life as we know it. Think what it means. Anything, even humans, will go through one of these devices. No need for cars or railways or airplanes, even spaceships. We'll set up matter-receiving stations throughout the world, and later the universe. There'll never be famine. Surpluses can be sent instantaneously at almost no cost, anywhere. Humanity need never want or fear again. I'm a very fortunate man, Hélène.
Les Loix du Mouvement et du Repos, déduites d'un Principe Métaphysique (1746)