Lying increases the creative faculties, expands the ego, and lessens the frictions of social contacts.
Technological man can't believe in anything that can't be measured, taped, or put into a computer.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote suggests that people who are heavily reliant on technology may struggle to believe in concepts that are not quantifiable.
Clare Boothe Luce's quote highlights a perspective on how modern technology influences human belief systems. It suggests that those immersed in the technological world often prioritize measurable and tangible data over abstract ideas or beliefs that cannot be quantified. This reliance on empirical evidence may limit their understanding or acceptance of deeper philosophical, emotional, or spiritual concepts that are essential to the human experience.
Themes
In practice
Example use cases
In a discussion about the importance of faith in personal relationships, you might quote Luce to emphasize the limitations of a purely data-driven perspective.
More from Clare Boothe Luce
All quotes →In the final analysis there is no other solution to man's progress but the day's honest work, the day's honest decision, the day's generous utterances, and the day's good deed.
Lying increases the creative faculties, expands the ego, lessens the friction of social contacts. . . . It is only in lies, wholeheartedly and bravely told, that human nature attains through words and speech the forebearance, the nobility, the romance, the idealism, that-being what it is-it falls so short of in fact and in deed.
I am for lifting everyone off the social bottom. In fact, I am for doing away with the social bottom altogether.
But if God had wanted us to think just with our wombs, why did He give us a brain?
Since the birth of our nation, the steady performance of the Marine Corps in fighting America's battles has made it the very symbol of military excellence. The Corps has come to be recognized worldwide as an elite force of fighting men, renowned for their physical endurance, for their high level of obedience, and for the fierce pride they take, as individuals, in the capacity for self discipline.
Similar quotes
Our society has reoriented itself to the present moment. Everything is live, real time, and always-on. It’s not a mere speeding up, however much our lifestyles and technologies have accelerated the rate at which we attempt to do things. It’s more of a diminishment of anything that isn’t happening right now—and the onslaught of everything that supposedly is.
The first man-made satellite to orbit the earth was named Sputnik. The first living creature in space was Laika. The first rocket to the Moon carried a red flag. The first photograph of the far side of the Moon was made with a Soviet camera. If a man orbits the earth this year his name will be Ivan.
The Internet's abundance - of information, goods, tastes and sources of authority - creates unparalleled opportunities for individuals to get exactly what they want. But this plenitude threatens political and cultural authorities who believe in telling individuals what they can have rather than letting them choose for themselves.
The Internet offers opportunities that are more unique than ever before. With TV, I know I'm making 22 minutes; I know there's a commercial in the middle. With the Internet, no one knows anything. No rules.
People will not die. Isn't this the creed of the new culture? People will be absorbed in streams of information. I know nothing about this. Computers will die. They're dying in their present form. They're just about dead as distinct units.
Drones overall will be more impactful than I think people recognize, in positive ways to help society.