Book Quote by Daniel J. Boorstin
“The mind is a vagrant thing ... Thinking is not analogous to a person working in a laboratory who invents something on company time. Answering criticism that the book for which he won a Pulitzer Prize was written in the years he had been employed at the Smithsonian. He specified that did not write on the premises there, but only at home outside of working hours.”
About This Quote
Source Interview: Smithsonian Magazine, 1995
Creative work often occurs outside formal workspaces; intellectual labor can be personal and private.
In simple terms: Ideas are born at home, not just at work.
Key Takeaway
Protect personal creative time.
Themes
creativity
work-life balance
intellectual property
Mood
reflective
analytical
Type
historical
explanatory
When to use this quote
- academic research
- writing
- innovation
- freelance work
Key Concepts
labor economics
creative process
Questions to Reflect On
- How do you separate personal and professional creativity?
- What policies support off-hours invention?
A Different Perspective
May overlook collaborative benefits of workplace resources.
![“By analyzing data from Greenwich Observatory in the period 1836-1953, John A. Eddy [Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics and High Altitude Observatory in Boulder] and Aram A. Boornazian [mathematician with S. Ross and Co. in Boston] have found evidence that the sun has been contracting…” quote by Jonathan Sarfati](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/ffc/jonathan-sarfati-57366_analyzing_by-analyzing-data-from-greenwich-observa_2468812.jpg)
![“After Gibbs, one the most distinguished [American scientists] was Langley, of the Smithsonian. ... He had the physicist's heinous fault of professing to know nothing between flashes of intense perception. ... Rigidly denying himself the amusement of philosophy, which consists chiefly in suggesting…” quote by Henry Adams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/569/henry-adams-1542_amusement_after-gibbs-one-the-most-distinguished-a_2216409.jpg)
![“I've always wanted to visit [Washington]. The Smithsonian has some fantastic archival material on blues music, which I'm really into. There's a ton of stuff I want to do there. but it just never happened.” quote by Dylan Moran](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/8f5/dylan-moran-1716_blues-music_i-ve-always-wanted-to-visit-washington-t_1791507.jpg)
![“[The Library of Congress] is a multimedia encyclopedia. These are the tentacles of a nation.” quote by Daniel J. Boorstin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/79a/daniel-j-boorstin-3089_congress_the-library-of-congress-is-a-multimedia_186561.jpg)
