All of us are citizens in a republic much larger than the Republic of America. It is the Republic of Letters, a realm of the mind that extends everywhere, without police, national boundaries, or disciplinary frontiers.
Robert DarntonRead
Thanks to modern technology, we now can deliver every text in every research library to every citizen in our country, and to everyone in the world. If we fail to do so, we are not living up to our civic duty.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote emphasizes the responsibility of utilizing technology to ensure access to information for all citizens.
Robert Darnton highlights the transformative power of modern technology in making knowledge and information accessible to everyone, reinforcing the idea that with this capability comes a civic responsibility. He argues that if society fails to leverage technology to disseminate information from research libraries to all individuals, we are neglecting our duty to promote informed citizenship and equal access to knowledge.
Themes
TechnologyAccessibilityKnowledgeCivic DutyInformation
In practice
Example use cases
In a speech about digital libraries, I might quote this to stress the importance of access to research.
More from Robert Darnton
All quotes →Similar quotes
I get hired by companies to hack into their systems and break into their physical facilities to find security holes. Our success rate is 100%; we've always found a hole.
Kevin MitnickRead
I never thought, in my lifetime, that you'd be able to watch movies, read books and listen to music from a phone, but I guess the technology of tomorrow is here today.
Dolly PartonRead
It's hard to pay attention these days because of multiple affects of the information technology nowadays. You tend to develop a faster, speedier mind, but I don't think it's necessarily broader or smarter.
Robert RedfordRead
People think 'big data' avoids the problem of discrimination because you are dealing with big data sets, but, in fact, big data is being used for more and more precise forms of discrimination - a form of data redlining.
Kate CrawfordRead
I believe 3D is inevitable because it's about aligning our entertainment systems to our sensory system. We all have two eyes; we all see the world in 3D. And it's natural for us to want our entertainment in 3D as well. It's just getting the technology - it's really more the business model than the technology piece. We've solved the technology.
James CameronRead
Technology will move faster than governments, so don't legislate before you understand the consequences.
Eric SchmidtRead