20 Quotes & Sayings By Daniel J Boorstin

Daniel J. Boorstin was born in New York City, the son of a well-known New York lawyer. He was educated at Columbia University, where he received his A.B. degree in philosophy in 1936, and at Yale Law School, where he received his LL.B degree in 1941 Read more

During the war he served as a Lieutenant in the U.S. Navy, then held a series of government jobs that took him around the world for seven years. In 1962 he became a professor of history at the University of Maryland, after which he moved to Washington D.C., where he lived until his death on February 1, 2004.

The greatest enemy of knowledge is not ignorance, it is...
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The greatest enemy of knowledge is not ignorance, it is the illusion of knowledge. Daniel J. Boorstin
A wonderful thing about a book, in contrast to a...
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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
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Freedom means the opportunity to be what we never thought we would be. Daniel J. Boorstin
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When we pick up the newspaper at breakfast, we expect - we even demand - that it brings us momentous events since the night before.. We expect our two-week vacations to be romantic, exotic, cheap, and effortless. We expect anything and everything. We expect the contradictory and the impossible. We expect compact cars which are spacious; luxurious cars which are economical. We expect to be rich and charitable, powerful and merciful, active and reflective, kind and competitive. We expect to be inspired by mediocre appeals for excellence, to be made literate by illiterate appeals for literacy..to go to 'a church of our choice' and yet feel its guiding power over us, to revere God and to be God. Never have people been more the masters of their environment. Yet never has a people felt more deceived and disappointed. For never has a people expected so much more than the world could offer. . Daniel J. Boorstin
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The deeper problems connected with advertising come less from the unscrupulousness of our 'deceivers' than from our pleasure in being deceived less from the desire to seduce than from the desire to be seduced. Daniel J. Boorstin
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Best-sellerism is the star system of the book world. A (best-seller) is a celebrity among books. It is a book known primarily (sometimes exclusively) for its well-knownness. Daniel J. Boorstin
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A best-seller was a book which somehow sold well simply because it was selling well. Daniel J. Boorstin
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A celebrity is a person known for his well-knownness. Celebrities intensify their celebrity images simply by being well known for relations among themselves. By a kind of symbiosis celebrities live off each other. Daniel J. Boorstin
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A sign of a celebrity is often that his name is worth more than his services. Daniel J. Boorstin
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Some are born great some achieve greatness and some hire public relations officers. Daniel J. Boorstin
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A sign of celebrity is that his name is often worth more than his services. Daniel J. Boorstin
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Time makes heroes but dissolves celebrities. Daniel J. Boorstin
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The force of the advertising word and image dwarfs the power of other literature in the 20th century. Daniel J. Boorstin
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The greatest obstacle to discovery is not ignorance - it is the illusion of knowledge. Daniel J. Boorstin
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Technology is so much fun but we can drown in our technology. The fog of information can drive out knowledge. Daniel J. Boorstin
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The traveler was active; he went strenuously in search of people, of adventure, of experience. The tourist is passive; he expects interesting things to happen to him. He goes 'sight-seeing.' Daniel J. Boorstin
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The courage to imagine the otherwise is our greatest resource, adding color and suspense to all our life. Daniel J. Boorstin
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An image is not simply a trademark, a design, a slogan or an easily remembered picture. It is a studiously crafted personality profile of an individual, institution, corporation, product or service. Daniel J. Boorstin
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As you make your bed, so you must lie in it. Daniel J. Boorstin