Industrialism implies technology and the cutting of time into precise fragments suited to the needs of the engineer and the accountant.
Harold InnisThe diversity of institutions has made possible the combination of government ownership and private enterprise which has been a further characteristic of Canadian development. Canada has remained fundamentally a product of Europe.
Harold InnisThe history of Canada has been profoundly influenced by the habits of an animal which very fittingly occupies a prominent place on her coat of arms.
Harold InnisThe mixture of the oral and the written traditions in the writings of Plato enabled him to dominate the history of the West.
Harold InnisWriting with a simplified alphabet checked the power of custom of an oral tradition but implied a decline in the power of expression and the creation of grooves which determined the channels of thought of readers and later writers.
Harold InnisIt is suggested that all written works, including this one, have dangerous implications to the vitality of an oral tradition and to the health of a civilization, particularly if they thwart the interest of a people in culture, and following Aristotle, the cathartic effects of culture. "It is written but I say unto you" is a powerful directive to Western civilization.
Harold Innis