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.
Daniel J. BoorstinRead
Freedom means the opportunity to be what we never thought we would be.
Interpretation
Freedom allows us to discover our true potential and pursue paths we never imagined.
This quote by Daniel J. Boorstin suggests that freedom is not just about the absence of constraints, but the ability to explore and realize our hidden capabilities and aspirations. It emphasizes that in a free environment, individuals have the chance to evolve beyond their preconceived limitations, unlocking possibilities that they may have thought were unattainable.
In practice
Using this quote during a motivational speech to inspire young adults to pursue their dreams.
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.
The most promising words ever written on the maps of human knowledge are terra incognita, unknown territory.
Human models are more vivid and more persuasive than explicit moral commands.
Knowledge is not simply another commodity. On the contrary. Knowledge is never used up. It increases by diffusion and grows by dispersion.
We need not be theologians to see that we have shifted responsibility for making the world interesting from God to the newspaperman.
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!'
And they can appreciate, through personal experience, that the really decisive battleground of American freedom is in the hearts and minds of our own people... Each day we must ask that Almighty God will set and keep His protecting hand over us so that we may pass on to those who come after us the heritage of a free people, secure in their God-given rights and in full control of a Government dedicated to the preservation of those rights.
When children see animals in a circus, they learn that animals exist for our amusement. Quite apart from the cruelty involved in training and confining these animals, the whole idea that we should enjoy the humiliating spectacle of an elephant or lion made to perform circus tricks shows a lack of respect for the animals as individuals.
Contradiction itself, far from always being a criterion of error, is sometimes a sign of truth.
All these walls that keep us from loving each other as one family or one race - racism, religion, where we grew up, whatever, class, socioeconomic - what makes us be so selfish and prideful, what keeps us from wanting to help the next man, what makes us be so focused on a personal legacy as opposed to the entire legacy of a race.
I was asked why I did not give a rod with which to fish, in the hands of the poor, rather than give the fish itself as this makes them remain poor. So I told them: The people whom we pick up are not able to stand with a rod. So today I will give them fish and when they are able to stand, then I shall send them to you and you can give them the rod. That is your job. Let me do my work today.
I cannot believe that the inscrutable universe turns on an axis of suffering; surely the strange beauty of the world must somewhere rest on pure joy!
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