--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: People who didn't live pre-Internet can't…" description: "\"People who didn't live pre-Internet can't grasp how devoid of ideas life in my hometown was. The only bookstores sold Bibles the size of coffee tables ..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4cd/mary-karr-3335_bible_people-who-didn-t-live-pre-internet-can_1109102.png" --- # People who didn't live pre-Internet can't grasp how devoid… ![“People who didn't live pre-Internet can't grasp how devoid of ideas life in my hometown was. The only bookstores sold Bibles the size of coffee tables and dashboard Virgin Marys that glowed in the dark.” quote by Mary Karr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4cd/mary-karr-3335_bible_people-who-didn-t-live-pre-internet-can_1109102.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4cd/mary-karr-3335_bible_people-who-didn-t-live-pre-internet-can_1109102.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4cd/mary-karr-3335_bible_people-who-didn-t-live-pre-internet-can_1109102.png) > “People who didn't live pre-Internet can't grasp how devoid of ideas life in my hometown was. The only bookstores sold Bibles the size of coffee tables and dashboard Virgin Marys that glowed in the dark.” [Mary Karr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-karr/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The speaker laments the cultural emptiness of their hometown before the Internet, noting only large religious items were sold. **In simple terms:** Smalltown felt empty before online ideas. Key Takeaway Seek diverse ideas beyond local limits. Themes culture nostalgia technology isolation Mood reflective melancholic Type observational personal When to use this quote - rural life - online learning - community building - personal growth Key Concepts media saturation digital divide religious symbolism Questions to Reflect On - How does digital media reshape local culture? - Can physical artifacts hold meaning without internet? A Different Perspective Online access may not replace deep community connections. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Bible](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/bible/) [Bibles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/bibles/) [Bookstores](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/bookstores/) [Coffee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/coffee/) [Dark](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/dark/) [Hometown](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/hometown/) [Ideas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ideas/) [Life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life/) [People](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/people/) ## Related quotes > [People who didn't live pre-Internet can't grasp how devoid of ideas life in my hometown was. I stopped in the middle of the SAT…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-karr/people-who-didn-t-live-pre-internet-can-t-grasp-how-devoid-of-ideas/) [Mary Karr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-karr/) > [“Then one evening he reached the last chapter, and then the last page, the last verse. And there it was! That unforgivable and unfathomable…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonas-jonasson/then-one-evening-he-reached-the-last-chapter-and-then-the-last-page/) [Jonas Jonasson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonas-jonasson/) > [I'm a hippie child of the '60s. What drives me crazy about mass media entertainment is that it's so often devoid of any ideas.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-lapine/i-m-a-hippie-child-of-the-60s-what-drives-me-crazy-about-mass-media/) [James Lapine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-lapine/) > [All bibles are man-made.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-a-edison/all-bibles-are-man-made/) [Thomas A. Edison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-a-edison/) > [Study Bibles tend to circulate widely, so they play a disproportionate role in helping Christians and others understand holy Scripture. Further, many of our…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/d-a-carson/study-bibles-tend-to-circulate-widely-so-they-play-a-disproportionate/) [D. A. Carson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/d-a-carson/) > [Take a look at the number of Bibles on your shelf. 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C. Ryle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-c-ryle/) > [Never be afraid of your Bibles.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-spurgeon/never-be-afraid-of-your-bibles/) [Charles Spurgeon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-spurgeon/) > [Bibles laid open, millions of surprises.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-herbert/bibles-laid-open-millions-of-surprises/) [George Herbert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-herbert/) > [“That one over this is the one for the use of the white people,” Judge Amistead Jones said. “Not that I am a stickler…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isabel-wilkerson/that-one-over-this-is-the-one-for-the-use-of-the-white-people-judge/) [Isabel Wilkerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isabel-wilkerson/) ## More by Mary Karr > [I do have a really good memory. 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Once…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-karr/i-believe-in-god-but-even-if-you-don-t-you-can-believe-in-a-self-the/) [Mary Karr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-karr/) > [Love is the only passion which includes in its dreams the happiness of someone else.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-karr/love-is-the-only-passion-which-includes-in-its-dreams-the-happiness/) [Mary Karr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-karr/) > [It strikes me that whatever advantages there are to being a boy--getting to stay out late and having other people wash your clothes and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-karr/it-strikes-me-that-whatever-advantages-there-are-to-being-a-boy/) [Mary Karr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-karr/) > [“I liked to call myself a poet and had affected a habit of reading classical texts (in translation, of course – I was a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-karr/i-liked-to-call-myself-a-poet-and-had-affected-a-habit-of-reading/) [Mary Karr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-karr/) > [It turned out to be impossible for me to 'run away' in the sense other American teenagers did. 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It's the stupid hopes playacting like certainties.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-karr/what-hurts-so-bad-about-youth-isn-t-the-actual-butt-whippings-the/) [Mary Karr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-karr/) [Explore all 133 Mary Karr quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-karr/) ## More Bible quotes > [I think a new world will arise out of the religious mists when we approach our Bible with the idea that it is not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aiden-wilson-tozer/i-think-a-new-world-will-arise-out-of-the-religious-mists-when-we/) [Aiden Wilson Tozer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aiden-wilson-tozer/) > [From Augustine down, theologians have tried to compel people to accept their special interpretation of the Scripture, and the tortures of the inquisition, the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matilda-joslyn-gage/from-augustine-down-theologians-have-tried-to-compel-people-to-accept/) [Matilda Joslyn Gage](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matilda-joslyn-gage/) > [“God hates Hell. 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Peterson > [“The wife of a junior officer cooped up in a horrible canvas partition in steerage for five months wrote: "I had enjoyed much peace…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-taylor/the-wife-of-a-junior-officer-cooped-up-in-a-horrible-canvas-partition/) Stephen Taylor > [O Word of God incarnate . . . 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The Bible is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/abel-ferrara/where-i-come-from-you-re-not-raised-to-think-on-your-own-it-s-not/) [Abel Ferrara](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/abel-ferrara/) > [“I felt like praying or something, when I was in bed, but I couldn't do it. I can't always pray when I feel like…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-d-salinger/i-felt-like-praying-or-something-when-i-was-in-bed-but-i-couldn-t-do/) [J.D. Salinger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-d-salinger/) > [What comes to mind when you think of heaven? 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