Education, the great mumbo jumbo and fraud of the age purports to equip us to live and is prescribed as a universal remedy for everything from juvenile delinquency to premature senility.
Malcolm MuggeridgeRead
What is called Western Civilization is in an advanced state of decomposition, and another Dark Ages will soon be upon us, if, indeed, it has not already begun. With the Media, especially television, governing all our lives, as they indubitably do, it is easily imaginable that this might happen without our noticing...by accustoming us to the gradual deterioration of our values.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote warns about the decline of Western civilization due to media influence on values.
Malcolm Muggeridge expresses a concern that Western civilization is in decay, akin to a new Dark Ages, as the pervasive influence of media, particularly television, shapes our lives and gradually erodes our values. He suggests that this deterioration may occur so subtly that we might not even notice its onset. The underlying message emphasizes the dangers of allowing media to influence our perceptions and values without critical engagement.
Themes
CivilizationMediaValuesDecayDark Ages
In practice
Example use cases
In a lecture about the impact of media on society, this quote could be used to highlight the potential dangers of uncritical media consumption.
More from Malcolm Muggeridge
All quotes →This life in us; however low it flickers or fiercely burns, is still a divine flame which no man dare presume to put out, be his motives never so humane and enlightened; To suppose otherwise is to countenance a death-wish; Either life is always and in all circumstances sacred, or intrinsically of no account; it is inconceivable that it should be in some cases the one, and in some the other.
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I never met a rich man who was happy, but I have only very occasionally met a poor man who did not want to become a rich man.
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It was a somber place, haunted by old jokes and lost laughter. Life, as I discovered, holds no more wretched occupation than trying to make the English laugh.
Malcolm MuggeridgeRead
Bad humor is an evasion of reality; good humor is an acceptance of it.
Malcolm MuggeridgeRead
The only ultimate disaster that can befall us is to feel ourselves at home on this earth.
Malcolm MuggeridgeRead
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