The hero created himself; the celebrity is created by the media.

A pseudo-event ... comes about because someone has planned it, planted, or incited it. Typically, it is not a train wreck or an earthquake, but an interview.

Human models are more vivid and more persuasive than explicit moral commands.

The Christian test was a willingness to believe in the one Jesus Christ and His Message of salvation. What was demanded was not criticism but credulity. The Church Fathers observed that in the realm of thought only heresy had a history.

The modern American tourist now fills his experience with pseudo-events. He has come to expect both more strangeness and more familiarity than the world naturally offers. He has come to believe that he can have a lifetime of adventure in two weeks and all the thrills of risking his life without any real risk at all.

The traveler used to go about the world to encounter the natives. A function of travel agencies now is to prevent this encounter.

It is very unlikely that the computer will displace the books, except in areas where we need information speedily.