Daniel J. Boorstin
Historian and Librarian of Congress (1914 to 2004) whose The Image (1961) described a culture of pseudo-events and celebrities, where images displace reality.
Daniel J. Boorstin did not write this page.
We collected these quotes from things they published elsewhere, and every quote links to where it was said. They have no account here and have not endorsed this site. Quotes are word for word; the short line under each one is our own restatement, not their wording. Their own site. Is this you? Claim it or ask us to remove it. Or tell us what is wrong here.
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Their wordsWe suffer primarily not from our vices or our weaknesses, but from our illusions.
↗The Image, or What Happened to the American Dream (Atheneum, 1962 printing of the 1961 book)archive.org All 5 from this book
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Their wordsWe are haunted, not by reality, but by those images we have put in place of reality.
↗The Image, or What Happened to the American Dream (Atheneum, 1962 printing of the 1961 book)archive.org All 5 from this book
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Their wordsThe celebrity is a person who is known for his well-knownness.
↗The Image, or What Happened to the American Dream (Atheneum, 1962 printing of the 1961 book)archive.org All 5 from this book
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Their wordsThe hero was distinguished by his achievement; the celebrity by his image or trademark.
↗The Image, or What Happened to the American Dream (Atheneum, 1962 printing of the 1961 book)archive.org All 5 from this book
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Their wordsWe risk being the first people in history to have been able to make their illusions so vivid, so persuasive, so "realistic" that they can live in them.
↗The Image, or What Happened to the American Dream (Atheneum, 1962 printing of the 1961 book)archive.org All 5 from this book