A dictionary of Marshall McLuhan’s quotations

[After a speed-reading of Milton’s “Paradise Lost”] And one of the boys, after reading the entire poem in seven minutes said, “I didn’t know Milton was such a great musician!” What came out of the poem at that speed was organ music. It was auditory. Read at a much slower speed Milton is a very visual poet. Read at high speed he became auditory. It’s like going through the sound barrier.
“Tuning In on Marshall McLuhan.” interview by Joseph Foyle, in This Week (Dublin, Ireland, 1972), typescript transcript, p 10
Year: 1972
Chapter: Speech
Compiled by William Kuhns
© 2026, The Estate of Marshall McLuhan