--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Television was not intended to make human…" description: "\"Television was not intended to make human beings vacuous, but it is an emanation of their vacuity.\" — Malcolm Muggeridge" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/bb7/malcolm-muggeridge-2370_gossip_television-was-not-intended-to-make-huma_1956508.png" --- # Television was not intended to make human beings vacuous… ![“Television was not intended to make human beings vacuous, but it is an emanation of their vacuity.” quote by Malcolm Muggeridge](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/bb7/malcolm-muggeridge-2370_gossip_television-was-not-intended-to-make-huma_1956508.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/bb7/malcolm-muggeridge-2370_gossip_television-was-not-intended-to-make-huma_1956508.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/bb7/malcolm-muggeridge-2370_gossip_television-was-not-intended-to-make-huma_1956508.png) > “Television was not intended to make human beings vacuous, but it is an emanation of their vacuity.” [Malcolm Muggeridge](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/malcolm-muggeridge/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Television reflects society's emptiness rather than causes it, amplifying existing superficiality. **In simple terms:** TV shows what is already shallow. Key Takeaway Recognize media's role in mirroring culture. Themes media criticism culture technology society superficiality Mood critical reflective Type observational analytical When to use this quote - watching TV - media literacy - cultural analysis Key Concepts mass media cultural reflection vacuum of meaning Questions to Reflect On - How does TV shape your perception of depth? - Can you find meaning in popular media? A Different Perspective It can also inspire creativity despite its flaws. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Gossip](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/gossip/) [Human beings](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/human-beings/) [Humans](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/humans/) [Television](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/television/) [Vacuity](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/vacuity/) ## Related quotes > [Television was not invented to make human beings vacuous, but is an emanation of their vacuity.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/malcolm-muggeridge/television-was-not-invented-to-make-human-beings-vacuous-but-is-an/) [Malcolm Muggeridge](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/malcolm-muggeridge/) > [In her abhorrrence of a vacuum, Nature, for the furtherance of her favorite hobby, has often to resort to strange devices. If she could…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ellen-glasgow/in-her-abhorrrence-of-a-vacuum-nature-for-the-furtherance-of-her/) [Ellen Glasgow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ellen-glasgow/) > [ “Now, 75 years \[after To Kill a Mockingbird \], in an abundant society where people have laptops, cell phones, iPods, and minds like empty… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harper-lee/now-75-years-after-to-kill-a-mockingbird-in-an-abundant-society-where/) [Harper Lee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/harper-lee/) > [Poverty is a bitter thing; but it is not as bitter as the existence of restless vacuity and physical, moral, and intellectual flabbiness, to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/theodore-roosevelt/poverty-is-a-bitter-thing-but-it-is-not-as-bitter-as-the-existence-of/) [Theodore Roosevelt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/theodore-roosevelt/) > [“Science gives up to religion that which cannot be known, and as it does not know what it is, that cannot be known, it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chapman-cohen/science-gives-up-to-religion-that-which-cannot-be-known-and-as-it/) [Chapman Cohen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chapman-cohen/) > [A pipe for the hour of work; a cigarette for the hour of conception; a cigar for the hour of vacuity.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-gissing/a-pipe-for-the-hour-of-work-a-cigarette-for-the-hour-of-conception-a/) [George Gissing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-gissing/) > [Ignorance is mere privation by which nothing can be produced: it is a vacuity in which the soul sits motionless and torpid for want…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-johnson/ignorance-is-mere-privation-by-which-nothing-can-be-produced-it-is-a/) [Samuel Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-johnson/) > [But the universe, as a collection of finite things, presents itself as a kind of island situated in a pure vacuity to which time,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/muhammad-iqbal/but-the-universe-as-a-collection-of-finite-things-presents-itself-as/) [Muhammad Iqbal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/muhammad-iqbal/) > [Very little appears to escape the infantilizing and moral vacuity of the market.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-giroux/very-little-appears-to-escape-the-infantilizing-and-moral-vacuity-of/) [Henry Giroux](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-giroux/) > [The only free mind is one that, pure of all intimacy with beings or objects, plies its own vacuity.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emile-m-cioran/the-only-free-mind-is-one-that-pure-of-all-intimacy-with-beings-or/) [Emile M. Cioran](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emile-m-cioran/) > [For far too long economists have sought to define themselves in terms of their supposedly scientific methods. In fact, those methods rely on an…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-piketty/for-far-too-long-economists-have-sought-to-define-themselves-in-terms/) [Thomas Piketty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-piketty/) > [Your friends will notice at once that glib vacuities fail to impress, and hate you, and tell lies about you. It's worth it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aleister-crowley/your-friends-will-notice-at-once-that-glib-vacuities-fail-to-impress/) [Aleister Crowley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aleister-crowley/) > [Fashionable women regard themselves, and are regarded by men, as pretty toys or as mere instruments of pleasure; and the vacuity of mind, the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sarah-moore-grimke/fashionable-women-regard-themselves-and-are-regarded-by-men-as-pretty/) [Sarah Moore Grimke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sarah-moore-grimke/) > [A lot of times you see really good-looking guys on TV and you sort of assume that maybe there's some sort of vacuity behind…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/misha-collins/a-lot-of-times-you-see-really-good-looking-guys-on-tv-and-you-sort-of/) [Misha Collins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/misha-collins/) > [Much that we hug today as knowledge is ignorance pure and simple. It makes the mind wander and even reduces it to a vacuity.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mahatma-gandhi/much-that-we-hug-today-as-knowledge-is-ignorance-pure-and-simple-it/) [Mahatma Gandhi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mahatma-gandhi/) ## More by Malcolm Muggeridge > [It is only possible to succeed at second-rate pursuitslikebecoming a millionaire or a prime minister, winning a war, seducing beautiful women, flying thought the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/malcolm-muggeridge/it-is-only-possible-to-succeed-at-second-rate-pursuitslikebecoming-a/) [Malcolm Muggeridge](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/malcolm-muggeridge/) > [He was not only a bore; he bored for England.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/malcolm-muggeridge/he-was-not-only-a-bore-he-bored-for-england/) [Malcolm Muggeridge](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/malcolm-muggeridge/) > [The orgasm has replaced the Cross as the focus of longing and the image of fulfillment.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/malcolm-muggeridge/the-orgasm-has-replaced-the-cross-as-the-focus-of-longing-and-the/) [Malcolm Muggeridge](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/malcolm-muggeridge/) > [Posterity will surely be amazed, and I hope vastly amused, that such slipshod and unconvincing theorizing should have so easily captivated twentieth-century minds and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/malcolm-muggeridge/posterity-will-surely-be-amazed-and-i-hope-vastly-amused-that-such/) [Malcolm Muggeridge](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/malcolm-muggeridge/) > [In politics, as in womanizing, failure is decisive. It sheds its retrospective gloom on earlier endeavor which at the time seemed full of promise.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/malcolm-muggeridge/in-politics-as-in-womanizing-failure-is-decisive-it-sheds-its/) [Malcolm Muggeridge](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/malcolm-muggeridge/) > [Marx and Freud are the two great destroyers of Christian civilization, the first replacing the gospel of love by the gospel of hate, the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/malcolm-muggeridge/marx-and-freud-are-the-two-great-destroyers-of-christian-civilization/) [Malcolm Muggeridge](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/malcolm-muggeridge/) > [I wouldn't have said that Anthony Eden was equipped by nature to deal with the situation in the world today. I would have said…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/malcolm-muggeridge/i-wouldn-t-have-said-that-anthony-eden-was-equipped-by-nature-to-deal/) [Malcolm Muggeridge](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/malcolm-muggeridge/) > [God, stay with me, let no word cross my lips that is not your word, no thoughts enter my mind that are not your…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/malcolm-muggeridge/god-stay-with-me-let-no-word-cross-my-lips-that-is-not-your-word-no/) [Malcolm Muggeridge](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/malcolm-muggeridge/) > [The monarchical institution in England is immensely valuable.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/malcolm-muggeridge/the-monarchical-institution-in-england-is-immensely-valuable/) [Malcolm Muggeridge](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/malcolm-muggeridge/) > [Education, the great mumbo jumbo and fraud of the age.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/malcolm-muggeridge/education-the-great-mumbo-jumbo-and-fraud-of-the-age/) [Malcolm Muggeridge](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/malcolm-muggeridge/) > [This life in us; however low it flickers or fiercely burns, is still a divine flame which no man dare presume to put out,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/malcolm-muggeridge/this-life-in-us-however-low-it-flickers-or-fiercely-burns-is-still-a/) [Malcolm Muggeridge](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/malcolm-muggeridge/) > [As Man alone, Jesus could not have saved us; As God alone, He would not; Made flesh, He could and did.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/malcolm-muggeridge/as-man-alone-jesus-could-not-have-saved-us-as-god-alone-he-would-not/) [Malcolm Muggeridge](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/malcolm-muggeridge/) > [ I think it \[presidency of Dwight Eisenhower\] came too late and I think that he is not on the wavelength of this dreadful time… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/malcolm-muggeridge/i-think-it-presidency-of-dwight-eisenhower-came-too-late-and-i-think/) [Malcolm Muggeridge](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/malcolm-muggeridge/) > [Future historians will surely see us as having created in the media a Frankenstein monster whom no one knows how to control ordirect, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/malcolm-muggeridge/future-historians-will-surely-see-us-as-having-created-in-the-media-a/) [Malcolm Muggeridge](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/malcolm-muggeridge/) > [ I think that President \[Dwight\] Eisenhower was... did the most marvelous job in the war, not really a military job: a public relations job,… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/malcolm-muggeridge/i-think-that-president-dwight-eisenhower-was-did-the-most-marvelous/) [Malcolm Muggeridge](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/malcolm-muggeridge/) [Explore all 168 Malcolm Muggeridge quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/malcolm-muggeridge/) ## More Gossip quotes > [In every province, the chief occupations, in order of importance, are lovemaking, malicious gossip, and talking nonsense.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/voltaire/in-every-province-the-chief-occupations-in-order-of-importance-are/) [Voltaire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/voltaire/) > [“She was the goddess of gossip and rumor, not the goddess of thoroughly fact-checked information. Some people, Principal Zeus included, didn't seem to realize…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joan-holub-suzanne-williams/she-was-the-goddess-of-gossip-and-rumor-not-the-goddess-of-thoroughly/) Joan Holub & Suzanne Williams > [Because the truth is that gossip is as good as gospel in this town. You can save face but you won't ever save your…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/conor-oberst/because-the-truth-is-that-gossip-is-as-good-as-gospel-in-this-town/) [Conor Oberst](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/conor-oberst/) > [Behind every word flows energy. If you use your words to gossip or babble about what you are going to do before you do…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sonia-choquette/behind-every-word-flows-energy-if-you-use-your-words-to-gossip-or/) [Sonia Choquette](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sonia-choquette/) > [Mechanical instruments, potentially a vehicle of rational human purposes, are scarcely a blessing when they enable the gossip of the village idiot and the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lewis-mumford/mechanical-instruments-potentially-a-vehicle-of-rational-human/) [Lewis Mumford](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lewis-mumford/) > [There is no friendship that cares about an overheard secret.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexandre-dumas/there-is-no-friendship-that-cares-about-an-overheard-secret/) [Alexandre Dumas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexandre-dumas/) > [My back is not a voicemail. Say it to my face bitch.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/superman/my-back-is-not-a-voicemail-say-it-to-my-face-bitch/) Superman > [I don't at all like knowing what people say of me behind my back. It makes me far too conceited.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oscar-wilde/i-don-t-at-all-like-knowing-what-people-say-of-me-behind-my-back-it/) [Oscar Wilde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oscar-wilde/) > [Destroy gossip by ignoring it](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mariane-corbito/destroy-gossip-by-ignoring-it/) [Mariane Corbito](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mariane-corbito/) > [My mum, Olwen, was a bright and talkative woman who loved a gossip and a story and was given slightly to malapropisms. And she…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-jason/my-mum-olwen-was-a-bright-and-talkative-woman-who-loved-a-gossip-and/) [David Jason](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-jason/) > [I went straight from high school to 'Gossip Girl,' and both were very structured, scheduled environments, so I never had freedom to explore and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/blake-lively/i-went-straight-from-high-school-to-gossip-girl-and-both-were-very/) [Blake Lively](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/blake-lively/) > [“A session of boasting won't attract any real friends.  It will set you up on a pedestal, however, making you a clearer target.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richelle-e-goodrich/a-session-of-boasting-won-t-attract-any-real-friends-it-will-set-you/) [Richelle E. Goodrich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richelle-e-goodrich/) > [“Don't give me truth, just give me gossip And skeletons from people's closets, I wanna be normal And millions buy it, I am blinded…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/benjamin-zephaniah/don-t-give-me-truth-just-give-me-gossip-and-skeletons-from-people-s/) [Benjamin Zephaniah](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/benjamin-zephaniah/) > [“Slander does to a soul what cancer does to a cell.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/criss-jami/slander-does-to-a-soul-what-cancer-does-to-a-cell/) [Criss Jami](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/criss-jami/) > [Gossip is just drama, waiting to start.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author-name/gossip-is-just-drama-waiting-to-start/) Author Name [Browse all 1,468 Gossip quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/gossip/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Television was not intended to make human beings vacuous, but it is an emanation of their vacuity.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Malcolm Muggeridge" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/malcolm-muggeridge/television-was-not-intended-to-make-human-beings-vacuous-but-it-is-an/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Gossip" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/malcolm-muggeridge/television-was-not-intended-to-make-human-beings-vacuous-but-it-is-an/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/bb7/malcolm-muggeridge-2370_gossip_television-was-not-intended-to-make-huma_1956508.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/bb7/malcolm-muggeridge-2370_gossip_television-was-not-intended-to-make-huma_1956508.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/bb7/malcolm-muggeridge-2370_gossip_television-was-not-intended-to-make-huma_1956508.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Television was not intended to make human beings vacuous, but it is an emanation of their vacuity.” — Malcolm Muggeridge", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Malcolm Muggeridge", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/malcolm-muggeridge/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "Television was not intended to make...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/malcolm-muggeridge/television-was-not-intended-to-make-human-beings-vacuous-but-it-is-an/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/malcolm-muggeridge/television-was-not-intended-to-make-human-beings-vacuous-but-it-is-an/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```