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
I have observed that the world has suffered far less from ignorance than from pretensions to knowledge. It is not skeptics or explorers but fanatics and ideologues who menace decency and progress. No agnostic ever burned anyone at the stake or tortured a pagan, a heretic, or an unbeliever.
Interpretation
What this quote means
This quote highlights the dangers of pretending to know more than one does, as it often leads to intolerance and violence.
Daniel J. Boorstin emphasizes that ignorance is less harmful than the false certainty displayed by those who believe they possess absolute knowledge. He argues that it is not the open-minded skeptics or curious explorers who cause harm, but rather the dogmatic ideologues and fanatics who inflict suffering upon those who think differently. Ultimately, the quote serves as a warning against the dangers of unyielding beliefs and the arrogance of assumed knowledge.
Themes
IgnoranceKnowledgePretensionFanaticismToleranceWisdom
In practice
Example use cases
In a speech about the importance of open-mindedness, one could reference this quote to underscore the risks of dogmatic beliefs.
More from Daniel J. Boorstin
All quotes →The most promising words ever written on the maps of human knowledge are terra incognita, unknown territory.
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Freedom means the opportunity to be what we never thought we would be.
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Human models are more vivid and more persuasive than explicit moral commands.
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Knowledge is not simply another commodity. On the contrary. Knowledge is never used up. It increases by diffusion and grows by dispersion.
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We need not be theologians to see that we have shifted responsibility for making the world interesting from God to the newspaperman.
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