The great obstacle to discovering the shape of the earth, the continents, and the oceans was not ignorance, but the illusion of knowledge. Daniel J. Boorstin More Quotes by Daniel J. Boorstin More Quotes From Daniel J. Boorstin Any government which made the welfare of men depend on the character of their governors was an illusion. Daniel J. Boorstin illusioncharactermen A wonderful thing about a book, in contrast to a computer screen, is that you can take it to bed with you. Daniel J. Boorstin libraryreadingbook Jefferson refused to pin his hopes on the occasional success of honest and unambitious men; on the contrary, the great danger was that philosophers would be lulled into complacence by the accidental rise of a Franklin or a Washington. Any government which made the welfare of men depend on the character of their governors was an illusion. Daniel J. Boorstin would-becharactermen It is only a short step from exaggerating what we can find in the world to exaggerating our power to remake the world. Expecting more novelty than there is, more greatness than there is, and more strangeness than there is, we imagine ourselves masters of a plastic universe. But a world we can shape to our will is a shapeless world. Daniel J. Boorstin exaggeration-isgreatnessimagination What preoccupies us, then, is not God as a fact of nature, but as a fabrication useful for a God-fearing society. God himself becomes not a power but an image. Daniel J. Boorstin atheismnaturefacts We need not be theologians to see that we have shifted responsibility for making the world interesting from God to the newspaperman. Daniel J. Boorstin responsibilitygodinteresting The Republic of Technology where we will be living is a feedback world. Daniel J. Boorstin republictechnologyworld While the easiest way in metaphysics is to condemn all metaphysics as nonsense, the easiest way in morals is to elevate the common practice of the community into a moral absolute. Daniel J. Boorstin communitypracticeway The most promising words ever written on the maps of human knowledge are terra incognita, unknown territory. Daniel J. Boorstin mapsterritoryhumans The image is made to order, tailored to us. An ideal, on the hand, has a claim on us. It does not serve us, we serve it. If we have trouble striding toward it, we assume the matter is with us, and not the ideal. Daniel J. Boorstin doeorderhands The most important lesson of American history is the promise of the unexpected. None of our ancestors would have imagined settling way over here on this unknown continent. So we must continue to have society that is hospitable to the unexpected, which allows possibilities to develop beyond our own imaginings. Daniel J. Boorstin lessonsimportantpromise Not so many years ago there was no simpler or more intelligible notion than that of going on a journey. Travel -movement through space -provided the universal metaphor for change. One of the subtle confusions -perhaps one of the secret terrors -of modern life is that we have lost this refuge. No longer do we move through space as we once did. Daniel J. Boorstin changelifetravel If our knowledge is, as I believe, only an island in an infinite sea of ignorance, how can we in our short lifetime find satisfaction in exploring our little island? How can we persuade ourselves to be exhilarated by our meager knowledge and yet not be discouraged by the ocean vistas? Daniel J. Boorstin short-lifeoceanbelieve Since the Creator had made the facts of the after-life inaccessible to man, He must not have required that man understand death in order to live fruitfully. Daniel J. Boorstin menorderfacts Of all the nations in the world, the United States was built in nobody's image. It was the land of the unexpected, of unbounded hope, of ideals, of quest for an unknown perfection. It is all the more unfitting that we should offer ourselves in images. And all the more fitting that the images which we make wittingly or unwittingly to sell America to the world should come back to haunt and curse us. Daniel J. Boorstin landperfectionamerica Formerly, a public man needed a private secretary for a barrier between himself and the public. Nowadays he has a press secretary, to keep him properly in the public eye. Daniel J. Boorstin publicityeyemen Being known primarily for their well-knownness, celebrities intensify their celebrity images simply by becoming widely known for relations among themselves. By a kind of symbiosis, celebrities live off one another. Daniel J. Boorstin symbiosiskindidols It is only a short step from exaggerating what we can find in the world to exaggerating our power to remake the world. Daniel J. Boorstin exaggeration-isstepsworld Each living art object, taken out of its native habitat so we can conveniently gaze at it, is like an animal in a zoo. Something about it has died in the removal. Daniel J. Boorstin takenzoosart The traveler used to go about the world to encounter the natives. A function of travel agencies now is to prevent this encounter. Daniel J. Boorstin encountersagencytravel
