"As individuals and as a nation, we now suffer from social narcissism. The beloved Echo of our ancestors, the virgin America, has been abandoned. We have fallen in love with our own image, with images of our making, which turn out to be images of ourselves"

This quote by Daniel J. Boorstin talks to the idea of social narcissism, which is the propensity of people and nations to become excessively concentrated on themselves. He suggests that America has actually abandoned its standard values and instead has actually ended up being consumed with its own image. This image is one that has actually been created by the country itself, and it is eventually a picture of itself. This quote talks to the concept that when individuals and nations end up being too focused on themselves, they can lose sight of the values that have actually been passed down from their ancestors. This can cause an absence of appreciation for the past and a lack of development in the future.