Where ruts have not yet been worn, it requires less effort to stay out of them. 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 illusion character men 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 library reading book 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-be character men 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-is greatness imagination 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 atheism nature facts 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 responsibility god interesting The Republic of Technology where we will be living is a feedback world. Daniel J. Boorstin republic technology world 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 community practice way The most promising words ever written on the maps of human knowledge are terra incognita, unknown territory. Daniel J. Boorstin maps territory humans 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 doe order hands 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 lessons important promise 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 change life travel 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-life ocean believe 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 men order facts 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 land perfection america 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 publicity eye men 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 symbiosis kind idols 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-is steps world 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 taken zoos art 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 encounters agency travel
