[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"$fRwpaJ1HFIfgkKJWAKAYvuBca2hCVyTpVAc5otDFRIxA":3,"$fL6Gtoux9sa7IYldrxjiWBc6RVyrMJFYipHKtgmpKJ-0":16},{"author":4,"tags":11},{"author_id":5,"author_name":6,"author_name_first_letter":7,"article_count":8,"bio":9,"short_bio":9,"slug":10,"image_url":9},36042,"Daniel J. Boorstin","D",160,null,"daniel-j-boorstin",[12],{"tag_id":13,"tag_name":14,"tag_count":15},326,"men",5,{"quotes":17,"pagination":83},[18,27,33,39,45,51,58,64,71,77],{"id":19,"quote_text":20,"author_id":5,"source_id":21,"has_image":22,"author":23,"source":24,"quote_tag":25,"commentary":26},4013188,"A best-seller was a book which somehow sold well simply because it was selling well.",8,false,{"id":5,"author_name":6,"slug":10,"author_name_first_letter":7,"article_count":8,"image_url":9},{},[],"**The Backstory**\nThis quote is attributed to Daniel J. Boorstin, an American historian and professor who wrote extensively on the nature of history, culture, and society. The era of his life when he might have penned this observation was likely during the 1950s-1960s, a time when mass media and consumerism were transforming the way people interacted with books and ideas. Boorstin's own experiences as a historian and critic of popular culture may have influenced his commentary on what drives commercial success in literature.\n\n**The Hidden Insight**\nBoorstin's wry remark reveals a paradox at the heart of our assumptions about literary merit and commercial success. He's not simply making a snide comment, but rather pointing out that the self-fulfilling prophecy of a best-seller often relies on external factors – such as marketing hype or cultural zeitgeist – rather than intrinsic qualities of the work itself.\n\n**How to Use This**\nWhen evaluating your own creative endeavors or business ventures, consider whether you're inadvertently caught up in a feedback loop of popularity. Instead, focus on creating something that genuinely resonates with others, and be prepared to revise and adapt based on genuine feedback, not just market trends.",{"id":28,"quote_text":29,"author_id":5,"source_id":21,"has_image":22,"author":30,"source":31,"quote_tag":32,"commentary":9},4013186,"The messiness of experience, that may be what we mean by life.",{"id":5,"author_name":6,"slug":10,"author_name_first_letter":7,"article_count":8,"image_url":9},{},[],{"id":34,"quote_text":35,"author_id":5,"source_id":21,"has_image":22,"author":36,"source":37,"quote_tag":38,"commentary":9},4013171,"NoÂ agnosticÂ ever burned anyone at the stake or tortured a pagan, a heretic, or an unbeliever.",{"id":5,"author_name":6,"slug":10,"author_name_first_letter":7,"article_count":8,"image_url":9},{},[],{"id":40,"quote_text":41,"author_id":5,"source_id":21,"has_image":22,"author":42,"source":43,"quote_tag":44,"commentary":9},4013141,"In our world of big names, our true heroes tend to be anonymous. In this life of illusion and quasi-illusion, the person of solid virtues who can be admired for something more substantial than his well-knowness often proves to be the unsung hero: the teacher, the nurse, the mother, the honest cop, the hard worker at lonely, underpaid, unglamorous, unpublicized jobs.",{"id":5,"author_name":6,"slug":10,"author_name_first_letter":7,"article_count":8,"image_url":9},{},[],{"id":46,"quote_text":47,"author_id":5,"source_id":21,"has_image":22,"author":48,"source":49,"quote_tag":50,"commentary":9},4013111,"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 sight-seeing.",{"id":5,"author_name":6,"slug":10,"author_name_first_letter":7,"article_count":8,"image_url":9},{},[],{"id":52,"quote_text":53,"author_id":5,"source_id":54,"has_image":22,"author":55,"source":56,"quote_tag":57,"commentary":9},3622213,"Reading is like the sex act - done privately, and often in bed.",7,{"id":5,"author_name":6,"slug":10,"author_name_first_letter":7,"article_count":8,"image_url":9},{},[],{"id":59,"quote_text":60,"author_id":5,"source_id":54,"has_image":22,"author":61,"source":62,"quote_tag":63,"commentary":9},3622191,"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 'sight-seeing.'",{"id":5,"author_name":6,"slug":10,"author_name_first_letter":7,"article_count":8,"image_url":9},{},[],{"id":65,"quote_text":66,"author_id":5,"source_id":67,"has_image":22,"author":68,"source":69,"quote_tag":70,"commentary":9},2957085,"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.",6,{"id":5,"author_name":6,"slug":10,"author_name_first_letter":7,"article_count":8,"image_url":9},{},[],{"id":72,"quote_text":73,"author_id":5,"source_id":67,"has_image":22,"author":74,"source":75,"quote_tag":76,"commentary":9},2957081,"Water, that wonderful, flowing medium, the luck of the planet – which would serve humankind in so many ways, and which would give our planet a special character.",{"id":5,"author_name":6,"slug":10,"author_name_first_letter":7,"article_count":8,"image_url":9},{},[],{"id":78,"quote_text":79,"author_id":5,"source_id":67,"has_image":22,"author":80,"source":81,"quote_tag":82,"commentary":9},2957079,"While the Jeffersonian did not flatly deny the Creator’s power to perform miracles, he admired His refusal to do so.",{"id":5,"author_name":6,"slug":10,"author_name_first_letter":7,"article_count":8,"image_url":9},{},[],{"currentPage":84,"totalPages":85,"totalItems":8,"itemsPerPage":86},1,16,10]