QuoteProject
Of the many unforeseen consequences of typography, the emergence of nationalism is, perhaps, the most familiar
Marshall Mcluhan
ShareWTF𝕏

Interpretation

What this quote means

Typography has shaped human consciousness and social identities, leading to the rise of nationalism.

Marshall McLuhan suggests that the way we present written text, through typography, has significantly influenced societal structures and identities, most notably the concept of nationalism. The emergence of nationalism can be seen as a consequence of how people interact with printed materials, which facilitate the spread of ideas and unify individuals with common narratives, ultimately leading to the formation of national identities.

Themes

TypographyNationalismCommunicationSocietyMedia

In practice

Example use cases

In a discussion on the influence of media on culture, one might quote this to emphasize typography's role in shaping identities.

More from Marshall Mcluhan

To say that "the camera cannot lie" is merely to underline the multiple deceits that are now practised in its name.
Marshall McluhanRead
A point of view can be a dangerous luxury when substituted for insight and understanding.
Marshall McluhanRead
In big industry new ideas are invited to rear their heads so they can be clobbered at once. The idea department of a big firm is a sort of lab for isolating dangerous viruses.
Marshall McluhanRead
The news automatically becomes the real world for the TV user and is not a substitute for reality, but is itself an immediate reality.
Marshall McluhanRead
Faced with information overload, we have no alternative but pattern-recognition.
Marshall McluhanRead
The poet, the artist, the sleuth, whoever sharpens our perception tends to antisocial; rarely 'well adjusted,' he cannot go along with currents and trends.
Marshall McluhanRead

Similar quotes

The life of money-making is one undertaken under compulsion, and wealth is evidently not the good we are seeking; for it is merely useful and for the sake of something else.
AristotleRead
I surrendered my beliefs and found myself at the tree of life injecting my story into the veins of leaves only to find that stories like forests are subject to seasons
Saul WilliamsRead
If abuses are destroyed, man must destroy them. If slaves are freed, man must free them. If new truths are discovered, man must discover them. If the naked are clothed; if the hungry are fed; if justice is done; if labor is rewarded; if superstition is driven from the mind; if the defenseless are protected, and if the right finally triumphs, all must be the work of man. The grand victories of the future must be won by man, and by man alone.
Robert Green IngersollRead
The practice is to make the non-arising of grasping and clinging absolute, final, and eternally void, so that no grasping and clinging can ever return. Just that is enough. There is nothing else to do.
BuddhadasaRead
The world dies over and over again, but the skeleton always gets up and walks.
Henry MillerRead
Mind is the Maker, for no reason at all, for all this creation, created to fall.
Jack KerouacRead

A little wisdom, now and then

Subscribe for the occasional hand-picked quote. No noise.