The fact of knowing how to read is nothing, the whole point is knowing what to read. Jacques Ellul More Quotes by Jacques Ellul More Quotes From Jacques Ellul No one knows where we are going, the aim of life has been forgotten, the end has been left behind. Man has set out at tremendous speed- to go nowhere. Jacques Ellul aim-of-life forgotten men Technical civilization has made a great error in not suppressing death, the only human reality still intact Jacques Ellul errors civilization reality Fate operates when people give up Jacques Ellul fate giving-up people The orchestration of press, radio and television to create a continuous, lasting and total environment renders the influence of propaganda virtually unnoticed precisely because it creates a constant environment. Jacques Ellul radio influence television It is inconceivable that the God who gives Himself in His Son to save us, should have created some people ordained to evil and damnation. There can only be one predestination to salvation. In and through Jesus Christ all people are predestined to be saved. Our free choice is ruled out in this regard. God wants free people, except in relation to this last and definitive decision. We are not free to decide and choose to be damned. Jacques Ellul should-have son jesus Philosophy which asserts that human experience repeats itself is ineffectual. Jacques Ellul human-experience philosophy history Because of the myth of progress, it is much easier to sell a man an electric razor than a straight-edged one. Jacques Ellul progress razors men The propagandist must utilize all of the technical means at his disposal - the press, radio, TV, movies, posters, meetings, door-to-door canvassing...There is no propaganda as long as one makes use, in a sporadic fashion and at random, of a newspaper article here, a poster or radio program there. Jacques Ellul fashion doors mean Faith lived in the incognito is one which is located outside the criticism coming from society , from politics , from history , for the very reason that it has itself the vocation to be a source of criticism. It is faith (lived in the incognito) which triggers the issues for the others, which causes everything seemingly established to be placed in doubt , which drives a wedge into the world of false assurances. Jacques Ellul issues criticism doubt The individual who is the servant of technique must be completely unconscious of himself. Jacques Ellul servant individual technique In sum, thought and reflection have been rendered thoroughly pointless by the circumstances in which modern men and women live and act. Jacques Ellul modern reflection men The most favorable moment to seize a man and influence him is when he is alone in the mass. It is at this point that propaganda can be most effective. Jacques Ellul propaganda influence men According to the International Institute for Environment and Development, the annual amount spent globally on advertising aimed at increasing consumption topped $430 billion in 1998.Consumer capitalism is dedicated to the proposition that production is good in itself, no matter what is produced. The net effect is the massive production of absurd, empty and useless items which are nevertheless utterly serious since we earn our living from them, and dedicate our leisure time to them. Jacques Ellul useless development matter Science brings to the light of day everything man had believed sacred. Technique takes possession of it and enslaves it. Jacques Ellul technique light men Hate, hunger, and pride make better levers of propaganda than do love or impartiality. Jacques Ellul levers hate pride Having analyzed these traits, we can now advance a definition of propaganda - not an exhaustive definition, unique and exclusive of all others, but at least a partial one: Propaganda is a set of methods employed by an organized group that wants to bring about the active or passive participation in its actions of a mass of individuals, psychologically unified through psychological manipulations and incorporated in an organization. Jacques Ellul definitions unique organization Freedom is completely without meaning unless it is related to necessity, unless it represents victory over necessity. Jacques Ellul related victory We have to admit that there is an immeasurable distance between all that we read in the Bible and the practice of the Church and of Christians. Jacques Ellul distance practice christian Propaganda's content increasingly resembles information. It has even clearly been proved that a violent, excessive, shock-provoking propaganda texts leads ultimately to less conviction and participation. The listeners critical powers decrease if the propaganda message is more rational and less violent. Jacques Ellul propaganda information messages Sport carries on without deviation the mechanical tradition of furnishing relief and distraction to the worker after he has finished his work proper so that he is at no time independent of one technique or another. In sport the citizen of the technical society finds the same spirit, criteria, morality, actions and objectives in short, all the technical laws and customs which he encounters in office or factory. Jacques Ellul independent law sports
