A dictionary of Marshall McLuhan’s quotations

Compiled by William Kuhns
©2026 Marshall McLuhan Estate

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MCLUHAN: …the high-rise is a new form of communication AUDIENCE MEMBER: “it’s a lot of (inaudible) isn’t it” MCLUHAN: If it’s on the side of a mountain it looks nice. If it’s on a flat street it looks horrible AUDIENCE MEMBER: If it blocks out individual homes (audio hard to determine) MCLUHAN: Otherwise, it’s just a cemetery. They have high-rise cemeteries now. This is what they’re really intended for. You buy yourself a little box, in the sky, instead of taking up space on the ground. Literally, the new high-rises are all cemeteries.
Undated Monday Night Seminar, available on YouTube as https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eXl98nvFuGY&t=11s --  time stamp 1:09-1:40.
Quote #415
Chapters: Architecture | Communication
↪ Also at #1207
Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eXl98nvFuGY

Drawn to McLuhan #15

Small black-and-white illustration of a Revolutionary War general striding into a modern military briefing room full of contemporary officers.
“We live centuries ahead of our thinking.”
Two-panel illustration pairing a prehistoric group drumming and singing around a campfire with modern college students singing together on headphones.
“We live by music.”
Cartoon of a grinning man in a suit running down a suburban street holding up a glowing laptop that reads EUREKA!
“Twentieth century man runs down the street shouting, I have the answers! What are the questions?”
Illustration of pedestrians on a busy sidewalk, each marked with a large yellow lightning bolt, absorbed in their phones outside coffee, tech, and news shops.
“The word serenity isn’t even applicable in an age like ours.”
Row of eight framed portraits on a brick wall, progressing from smiling graduates in caps to figures in increasingly tall dunce caps.
“The ignorance of how to use new knowledge stockpiles exponentially.”
Photograph of a contemporary dance class, pairs of dancers in acrobatic partnered poses filling a sunlit studio floor.
“Space is not a cavity to be filled but a possibility to be shaped.”
Cartoon of a father and son on a couch pointing excitedly at a TV showing a fantasy sports betting broadcast with player stats and odds.
“New sports will include the audience in the action.”
Three-panel illustration showing a father helping a boy roll a metal hoop, the boy running it down a sidewalk with a stick, and a grown man hula-hooping in a backyard.
“Invention, in a word, is a translation of one kind of space into another.”
Sepia-toned illustration of a man in a leather jacket standing with a raised fist between two towering stacks of books lining a cobblestone street.
“I am an intellectual thug who has been slowly accumulating a private arsenal with every intention of using it.” (in a 1950 letter to Ezra Pound)
Cartoon of a father reclining on a couch reading a book with his feet up while a baby cries on the floor nearby and an unanswered rotary telephone rings loudly on a side table.
“A man’s home is his hassle.”
© The Estate of Marshall McLuhan