Neil Postman Quotes (Author of Amusing Ourselves to Death)

446 quotes from Neil Postman: 'We were keeping our eye on 1984. When the year came and the prophecy didn't, thoughtful Americans sang softly in praise of themselves. The roots of liberal democracy had held. Wherever else the terror had happened, we, at least, had not been visited by [author:Orwellian|3706] nightmares. But we had forgotten that alongside [author:Orwell|3706]'s dark vision, there was another - slightly older, slightly less well known, equally chilling: [author:Aldous Huxley|3487]'s Brave New World. Contrary to common belief even among the educated, [author:Huxley|3487] and [author:Orwell|3706] did not prophesy the same thing. [author:Orwell|3706] warns that we will be overcome by an externally imposed oppression. But in [author:Huxley|3487]'s vision, no Big Brother is required to deprive people of their autonomy, maturity and history. As he saw it, people will come to love their oppression, to adore the technologies that undo their capacities to think. What [author:Orwell|3706] feared were those who would ban books. What [author:Huxley|3487] feared was that there would be no reason to ban a book, for there would be no one who wanted to read one. [author:Orwell|3706] feared those who would deprive us of information. [author:Huxley|3487] feared those who would give us so much that we would be reduced to passivity and egoism. [author:Orwell|3706] feared that the truth would be concealed from us. [author:Huxley|3487] feared the truth would be drowned in a sea of irrelevance. [author:Orwell|3706] feared we would become a captive culture. [author:Huxley|3487] feared we would become a trivial culture, preoccupied with some equivalent of the feelies, the orgy porgy, and the centrifugal bumblepuppy. As [author:Huxley|3487] remarked in Brave New World Revisited, the civil libertarians and rationalists who are ever on the alert to oppose tyranny "<i>failed to take into account man's almost infinite appetite for distractions</i>." In 1984, [author:Orwell|3706] added, people are controlled by inflicting pain. In Brave New World, they are controlled by inflicting pleasure. In short, [author:Orwell|3706] feared that what we fear will ruin us. [author:Huxley|3487] feared that what we desire will ruin us. This book is about the possibility that [author:Huxley|3487], not [author:Orwell|3706], was right.', 'What Orwell feared were those who would ban books. What Huxley feared was that there would be no reason to ban a book, for there would be no one who wanted to read one. Orwell feared those who would deprive us of information. Huxley feared those who would give us so much that we would be reduced to passivity and egoism. Orwell feared that the truth would be concealed from us. Huxley feared the truth would be drowned in a sea of irrelevance. Orwell feared we would become a captive culture. Huxley feared we would become a trivial culture, preoccupied with some equivalent of the feelies, the orgy porgy, and the centrifugal bumblepuppy. As Huxley remarked in Brave New World Revisited, the civil libertarians and rationalists who are ever on the alert to oppose tyranny "failed to take into account man's almost infinite appetite for distractions." In 1984, Huxley added, "people are controlled by inflicting pain. In Brave New World, they are controlled by inflicting pleasure. In short, Orwell feared that what we hate will ruin us. Huxley feared that what we love will ruin us".', and 'Americans no longer talk to each other, they entertain each other. They do not exchange ideas, they exchange images. They do not argue with propositions; they argue with good looks, celebrities and commercials.'