A dictionary of Marshall McLuhan’s quotations

Industrial man is not unlike the turtle that is quite blind to the beauty of the shell which it has grown on its back. In the same way, the modern newspaper isn't seen by the reporter except from the point of view of its mushy sensual content, its pulsating, romantic glamour. The reporter doesn't even know there's a beautiful shell above him. He grows the shell, unwittingly, subhumanly, biologically. This is not even the voice, but only the feel, of the turtle."
The Mechanical Bride: Folklore of Industrial Man, 1951, p.4
Year: 1951
↪ Also at #5044
Compiled by William Kuhns
© 2026, The Estate of Marshall McLuhan