Daniel J. Boorstin
Daniel J. Boorstin
Daniel Joseph Boorstinwas an American historian at the University of Chicago, writing on many topics in American history and world history. He was appointed twelfth Librarian of the United States Congress in 1975 and served until 1987. He was instrumental in the creation of the Library of Congress Center for the Book...
NationalityAmerican
ProfessionHistorian
Date of Birth1 October 1914
CountryUnited States of America
mean opportunity would-be
Freedom means the opportunity to be what we never thought we would be.
inspiring education wisdom
The greatest obstacle to discovery is not ignorance - it is the illusion of knowledge.
war ignorance men
Probably no one of us has the True Religion. But all of us together - if we are allowed to be free - are discovering ways of conversing about the great mysteries. The pretense to know all the answers to the deepest mysteries is, of course, the grossest fraud. And any people who declare a Jihad, a holy war on unbelievers - those who do not share their believers' pretended omniscience - are enemies of thinking men and woman and of civilization. I see religion as only a way of asking unanswerable questions, of sharing the joy of a community of quest, and solacing one another in our ignorance.
men history effort
History had been man's effort to accomodate himself to what he could not do. Amereican history in the 20th century would, more than ever before, test man's ability to accomodate himself to all the new things he could do.
born hire public relations
Some are born great, some achieve greatness, and some hire public relations officers.
bad genius good learned takes
I've learned any fool can write a bad ad, but it takes a real genius to keep his hands off a good one.
real reality television
Nothing is really real unless it happens on television.
country oedipus europe
Until now when we have started to talk about the uniqueness of America we have almost always ended by comparing ourselves to Europe. Toward her we have felt all the attraction and repulsions of Oedipus
character giving water
Water, that wonderful, flowing medium, the luck of the planet - which would serve humankind in so many ways, and which would give our planet a special character.
character men illusion
Any government which made the welfare of men depend on the character of their governors was an illusion.
fun knowledge science
Technology is so much fun but we can drown in our technology. The fog of information can drive out knowledge.