Modern Times

The whole tendency of the human race is away from consecutive thought. The brain is being sacrificed to the senses, as the cinema replaces the theatre and broadcasting obviates the necessity for conversation. The literature which sells is literature which involves a minimum of thought for its digestion; the religion which appears to commend itself to the masses is a sort of pulpy morality from which all intellectual considerations are jealously excluded. Cross-word puzzles have replaced the search for Truth by an endless chase after synonyms. Any challenge to abstract thought or reflection upon first principles is met by a torrent of catchwords and ready-made journalism which either obscure thought or obviate the necessity for it.

Ronald Knox (1888-1957) in Other Eyes Than Ours