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
people library defense
Historians will not fail to note that a people who could spend $300 billion on defense refused to spend a tiny fraction of that total to keep their libraries open in the evening.
science library tentacles
[The Library of Congress] is a multimedia encyclopedia. These are the tentacles of a nation.
book reading library
A wonderful thing about a book, in contrast to a computer screen, is that you can take it to bed with you.
knowledge commodity used
Knowledge is not simply another commodity. On the contrary. Knowledge is never used up. It increases by diffusion and grows by dispersion.
god responsibility interesting
We need not be theologians to see that we have shifted responsibility for making the world interesting from God to the newspaperman.
discovery greatest ignorance illusion obstacle
The greatest obstacle to discovery is not ignorance -- it is the illusion of knowledge.
travel expectations actors
Modern tourist guides have helped raised tourist expectations. And they have provided the natives- from Kaiser Wilhelm down to the villagers of Chichacestenango - with a detailed and itemized list of what is expected of them and when. These are the up-to-date scripts for actors on the tourists' stage.
reading world dull
There was a time when the reader of an unexciting newspaper would remark, 'How dull is the world today!' Nowadays he says, 'What a dull newspaper!'
interesting ruts needs
An enamored amateur need not be a genius to stay out of the ruts he has never been trained in.
reading our-world world
By reading we discover our world, our history, and ourselves.
simple america important
The most important American addition to the World Experience was the simple surprising fact of America. We have helped prepare mankind for all its later surprises.
ignorance discovery obstacles
Throught human history, illusions of knowledge, not ignorance, have proven to be the principal obstacles to discovery
world lasts events
The world of crime is a last refuge of the authentic, uncorrupted, spontaneous event.
literature advertising force
The force of the advertising word and image dwarfs the power of other literature in the 20th century.