Tracing Quotations
Marshall McLuhan? Winston Churchill? Henry David Thoreau? Robert Flaherty? Emerson Brown? John Culkin? William J. Mitchell? Anonymous? Dear Quote Investigator: The famous media theorist Marshall McLuhan has been credited with a brilliant adage about the co-evolution of humans and tools. Here are two versions: I have not been able to find a good citation. Would …
Continue reading “Quote Origin: We Shape Our Tools, and Thereafter Our Tools Shape Us”
Marshall McLuhan? Albert Einstein? Clyde Kluckhohn? Pierce Butler? James C. Coleman? John H. Fisher? John Culkin? Anonymous? Question for Quote Investigator: Sometimes an individual embedded in a particular culture or environment can become blind to the prevailing norms within his or her domain. I have heard a figurative expression that illustrates this predicament. Here are …
Continue reading “Quote Origin: We Don’t Know Who Discovered Water, But We Know It Wasn’t a Fish”