The greatest obstacle to discovery is not ignorance—it is the illusion of knowledge.

About Daniel J. Boorstin

Daniel Joseph Boorstin (October 1, 1914 – February 28, 2004) was an American historian at the University of Chicago who wrote on many topics in American and world history. He was appointed the twelfth Librarian of the United States Congress in 1975 and served until 1987. He was instrumental in...

More quotations from Daniel J. Boorstin

A sign of celebrity is that his name is often worth more than his services.

—Daniel J. Boorstin

celebrities

Some are born great, some achieve greatness, and some hire public relations officers.

—Daniel J. Boorstin

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 "sightseeing.

—Daniel J. Boorstin

Some are born great, some achieve greatness, and some hire public relations officers.

—Daniel J. Boorstin

humor achievement greatness public relations

Freedom means the opportunity to be what we never thought we would be.

—Daniel J. Boorstin

freedom

More quotations tagged with “discovery”

One doesn't discover new lands without consenting to lose sight of the shore for a very long time.

—André Gide

discovery

A discovery is said to be an accident meeting a prepared mind.

—Albert Szent-Gyorgyi

discovery

One of the advantages of being disorderly is that one is constantly making exciting discoveries.

—A. A. Milne

discovery

There's so much more to life than finding someone who will want you, or being sad over someone who doesn't. There's a lot of wonderful time to be spent discovering yourself without hoping someone will fall in love with you along the way, and it doesn't need to be painful or empty. You need to fill yourself up with love. Not anyone else. Become a whole being on your own. Go on adventures, fall asleep in the woods with friends, wander around the city at night, sit in a coffee shop on your own, write on bathroom stalls, leave notes in library books, dress up for yourself, give to others, smile a lot. Do all things with love, but don't romanticize life like you can't survive without it. Live for yourself and be happy on your own. It isn't any less beautiful.

—Emery Allen

love life beauty relationships discovery happiness pain adventure smiling

There are very few human beings who receive the truth, complete and staggering, by instant illumination. Most of them acquire it fragment by fragment, on a small scale, by successive developments, cellularly, like a laborious mosaic.

—Anaïs Nin

truth discovery knowledge

History

11 Jul 2015 Added
26 Oct 2026 Wording changed

Previous wording

The greatest obstacle to discovery is not ignorance - it is the illusion of knowledge.