Source: Science and Imagination: Selected Papers, 1967, p. 106
Source: Liberty, Equality, Fraternity (1873-1874), Ch. 2
“Example, whether it be good or bad, has a powerful influence.”
Letter to Lord Stirling (5 March 1780)
1780s
“Rumour her tidings, whether bad or good,
Has always tended to exaggerate.”
O bene o mal che la Fama ci apporti,
Signor, di sempre accrescere ha in usanza.
Canto XXXVIII, stanza 42 (tr. B. Reynolds)
Orlando Furioso (1532)
“I do not say whether it is a good or bad thing. To do so would be meaningless and arrogant.”
Letter to Robert Fulford, 1964. Letters of Marshall McLuhan (1987), p. 300
1960s
Context: My main theme is the extension of the nervous system in the electric age, and thus, the complete break with five thousand years of mechanical technology. This I state over and over again. I do not say whether it is a good or bad thing. To do so would be meaningless and arrogant.
Žádné pocínání není samo o sobe dohré ani zlé. Teprve jeho místo v rádu ciní je dobrým ci zlým.
The Joke (1967)
My Day (1935–1962)
Context: The film industry is a great industry with infinite possibilities for good and bad. Its primary purpose is to entertain people. On the side, it can do many other things. It can popularize certain ideals, it can make education palatable. But in the long run, the judge who decides whether what it does is good or bad is the man or woman who attends the movies. In a democratic country I do not think the public will tolerate a removal of its right to decide what it thinks of the ideas and performances of those who make the movie industry work. (29 October 1947)
