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Our civilization is first and foremost a civilization of means in the reality of modern life, the means, it would seem, are more important than the ends.

Jacques Ellul

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Jacques Ellul
Age: 82 †
Born: 1912
Born: January 6
Died: 1994
Died: May 19
French Resistance Fighter
Philosopher
Sociologist
Theologian
University Teacher
Writer
Bordèu
Firsts
Foremost
First
Civilization
Mean
Seem
Important
Modern
Would
Means
Life
Reality
Ends
Seems

More quotes by Jacques Ellul

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It is the emergence of mass media which makes possible the use of propaganda techniques on a societal scale.
Jacques Ellul
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For the word is dialectical in itself and at the same time is integrated into the whole of existence. By this I mean that the word is intended to be lived.
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The will of the world is always a will to death, a will to suicide. We must not accept this suicide, and we must so act that it cannot take place.
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The individual who is the servant of technique must be completely unconscious of himself.
Jacques Ellul
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The Holy Spirit alone can do this, the Holy Spirit alone can establish this link with one's neighbor.
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Philosophy which asserts that human experience repeats itself is ineffectual.
Jacques Ellul
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All human language draws its nature and value from the fact that it both comes from the Word of God and is chosen by God to manifest himself. But this relationship is secret and incomprehensible, beyond the bounds of reason and analysis.
Jacques Ellul
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Because of the myth of progress, it is much easier to sell a man an electric razor than a straight-edged one.
Jacques Ellul
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In sum, thought and reflection have been rendered thoroughly pointless by the circumstances in which modern men and women live and act.
Jacques Ellul
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It is not true that the perfection of police power is the result of the state's Machiavellianism or of some transitory influence. The whole structure of society implies it, of necessity. The more we mobilize the forces of nature, the more must we mobilize men and the more do we require order.
Jacques Ellul
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Science brings to the light of day everything man had believed sacred. Technique takes possession of it and enslaves it.
Jacques Ellul
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It is the multiplication of men who are exluded from working which provokes war. We ought at least to bear this in mind when we boast of the continual decrease in human participation in technical operations.
Jacques Ellul
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When there is propaganda, we are no longer able to evaluate certain questions, or even to discuss them
Jacques Ellul
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Journalistic content is a technical complex expressly intended to adapt man to the machine.
Jacques Ellul
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No technique is possible when men are free. Technique requires predictability and, no less, exactness of prediction. It is necessary, then, that technique prevail over the human being.
Jacques Ellul
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For in a civilization which has lost the meaning of life, the most important thing a Christian can do is to live, and life, understood from the point of view of faith, has an extraordinary explosive force.
Jacques Ellul
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Human life as a whole is not inundated by technique. It has room for activities that are not rationally or systematically ordered. But the collision between spontaneous activities and technique is catastrophic for the spontaneous activities.
Jacques Ellul
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Again I want to emphasize that the study of propaganda must be conducted within the context of a technological society. Propaganda is called upon to solve problems created by technology, to play on maladjustments, and to integrate the individual into a technological world.
Jacques Ellul
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Mass media provides the essential link between the individual and the demands of the technological society.
Jacques Ellul
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Propaganda begins when dialogue ends.
Jacques Ellul