“Taking his cue from author and painter Wyndham Lewis’s observation that the “present cannot be revealed until it has become yesterday,” McLuhan points out individuals see only the past as part and parcel of what he termed “the rear-view mirror phenomenon” obscuring the present and obliterating the future.” Judith Fitzgerald, Marshall McLuhan: Wise Guy. XYZ Publishing: Montreal, 2001. pg 3
I like the phrase “obscuring the present.” Focusing too much on the past or the future does just that. I think that we need to live in the present and to realize that it is a gift. Of course, this really does take a lot of effort. We work all our lives to get out of debt, to earn the things we want. We look back at the good times we had, or the bad times that steered us in certain directions. Most people don’t really focus on the right now. It’s about time that we all did.
Hello, Mr. March: Simply a wee fly-by cyber-hi . . . You made / make my day; and, so, I put a link on my 'site's LINKS to your post recognising McLuhan's wicked ways with words, works, and wonderifics. Thank you and Happy You Near. Hope yours is nearly as fine as you've made /make mine.
ReplyDeleteUndeniably, Cogito Ergo Doleo
(a.k.a. Judith McLuhanatic)
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http://www.judithfitzgerald.ca/criticalmass.html
http://www.judithfitzgerald.ca/links.html
p.s. Please delete this p.s. since it ain't germane to my out-shout; but, you've got a typo in the material you quote: McLu "takes his cue" (and not "takes his cut" although . . . I do like that "cut" idea big muchly)
I don’t know how to delete parts of a comment. I think my only options are to approve or reject the comment.
ReplyDeleteThanks a lot for dropping by. I will make that correction now and visit your blog when I get a chance.
Pas de sweat on the p.s.; and, before I had the op to upload the revised LINKS page, gots called away from Rudolph, my computer. The pleasure, Sir, is mine. Ain't gots no blog; but, I do like what I've seen of yours.
ReplyDeleteYou know, prolly, McLuhan originated the Top-Ten List concept; but, it's (incorrectly) credited to David Letterman? Just to stay on-top/ic of things. His contribution to the richness of our cultural lives only now becomes apparent, ISTM. In the future, there shall be shrines (or else!). "Culture Is Our Business," said he. How right he turned out to be.
I do have a few more quotes from him that I will be sharing here over the year. My collection of quotes is quite large and I try to mix it up so I don’t have too many quotes on the same topic or by the same author every month.
ReplyDeleteI try to make it easy to find quotes by certain authors or topics by the use of the labels on the side bar.
Thanks for checking it out!