--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: For all the casual slurs about 'cultural…" description: "\"For all the casual slurs about 'cultural imperialism', British imperialists were more interested in other cultures than anybody before or since, and, i..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/bf9/mark-steyn-1844_ancient_for-all-the-casual-slurs-about-cultural_984727.jpg" --- # For all the casual slurs about 'cultural imperialism'… ![“For all the casual slurs about 'cultural imperialism', British imperialists were more interested in other cultures than anybody before or since, and, if they hadn't dug it up and taken care of it, we'd know hardly anything about the ancient world. What's important about a nation's past is not what…” quote by Mark Steyn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/bf9/mark-steyn-1844_ancient_for-all-the-casual-slurs-about-cultural_984727.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/bf9/mark-steyn-1844_ancient_for-all-the-casual-slurs-about-cultural_984727.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/bf9/mark-steyn-1844_ancient_for-all-the-casual-slurs-about-cultural_984727.jpg) > “For all the casual slurs about 'cultural imperialism', British imperialists were more interested in other cultures than anybody before or since, and, if they hadn't dug it up and taken care of it, we'd know hardly anything about the ancient world. What's important about a nation's past is not what it keeps walled up in the museum but what it keeps outside, living and breathing as every citizen's inheritance.” [Mark Steyn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-steyn/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. British imperialism, while often criticized, preserved many ancient artifacts and knowledge that might otherwise have been lost, highlighting the value of sharing heritage beyond museums. **In simple terms:** Preserving culture outside museums is vital. Key Takeaway Share and protect cultural heritage publicly. Themes history preservation cultural heritage imperialism legacy Mood reflective thoughtful Type analytical historical When to use this quote - museum curation - education curricula - heritage tourism - community storytelling Key Concepts archaeology public memory national identity Questions to Reflect On - How do we balance preservation with respecting source cultures? - What responsibilities do modern societies have toward ancient heritage? A Different Perspective Preservation can also involve selective bias and power dynamics. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Ancient](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ancient/) [Ancient world](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ancient-world/) [Breathing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/breathing/) [British](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/british/) [British Imperialists](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/british-imperialists-1976398/) [Care](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/care/) [Casual](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/casual/) [Citizens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/citizens/) [Cultural Imperialism](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/cultural-imperialism-1976397/) [Culture](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/culture/) [Ifs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ifs/) [Imperialism](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/imperialism/) [Imperialism British](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/imperialism-british-1976399/) [Imperialists](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/imperialists-733449/) [Important](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/important/) [Inheritance](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/inheritance/) [Knows](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/knows/) [Life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life/) [Museums](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/museums/) [Nations](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/nations/) [Other cultures](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/other-cultures/) [Past](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/past/) [Slurs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/slurs/) [Taken](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/taken/) [Time](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/time/) [What 's important](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/what-s-important/) [World](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/world/) ## Related quotes > [I find it hard to see how my northern cousins could get so worked up about counties created by British imperialists.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/colm-o-rourke/i-find-it-hard-to-see-how-my-northern-cousins-could-get-so-worked-up/) [Colm O'Rourke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/colm-o-rourke/) > [Ultimately, imperialism made even the British working classes suffer. This is a point which the British working classes found quite difficult to swallow, but…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amartya-sen/ultimately-imperialism-made-even-the-british-working-classes-suffer/) [Amartya Sen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amartya-sen/) > [We're told the old-school imperialists were racists, that they thought of the wogs as inferior. But, if so, they at least considered them capable…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-steyn/we-re-told-the-old-school-imperialists-were-racists-that-they-thought/) [Mark Steyn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-steyn/) > [“it has a quality other countries call cultural imperialism, which, we have found, means a tasty culture that other peoples readily enjoy, an infective…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sheri-s-tepper/it-has-a-quality-other-countries-call-cultural-imperialism-which-we/) [Sheri S. Tepper](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sheri-s-tepper/) > [“Missiologists have in recent years begun to think seriously about inculturation, and historians have begun to learn from them. When the Christian message is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-kreider/missiologists-have-in-recent-years-begun-to-think-seriously-about/) [Alan Kreider](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-kreider/) > [Hollywood and Disneyland are the legacy of Europe's cultural imperialism. We gave them nursery rhymes and they gave back film. Televised riots are as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richey-edwards/hollywood-and-disneyland-are-the-legacy-of-europe-s-cultural/) [Richey Edwards](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richey-edwards/) > [Often, these downplay the power of cultural imperialism - in that sense, playing the game of US interests - by reassuring us that the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fredric-jameson/often-these-downplay-the-power-of-cultural-imperialism-in-that-sense/) [Fredric Jameson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fredric-jameson/) > [The break from the supposedly culturally-narrow religious bases of knowledge in favor of supposedly trans-cultural scientific bases of knowledge served as the self-justification of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/immanuel-wallerstein/the-break-from-the-supposedly-culturally-narrow-religious-bases-of/) [Immanuel Wallerstein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/immanuel-wallerstein/) > [In most of the European countries - France stands out in its resistance to this particular form of American cultural imperialism - the national…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fredric-jameson/in-most-of-the-european-countries-france-stands-out-in-its-resistance/) [Fredric Jameson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fredric-jameson/) > [“This is clearly cultural imperialism, which explains why Western culture is, in fact, the sole (main) global culture. Yet, this is consistently disguised and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sov8840/this-is-clearly-cultural-imperialism-which-explains-why-western/) [Sov8840](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sov8840/) > [“impose our own cultural ideas on the text without thinking. The Bible’s message must not be subjected to cultural imperialism. Its message transcends the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-h-walton/impose-our-own-cultural-ideas-on-the-text-without-thinking-the-bible/) [John H. Walton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-h-walton/) > [Many critics see international trade as a form of cultural imperialism that must be strictly controlled.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-gilpin/many-critics-see-international-trade-as-a-form-of-cultural/) [Robert Gilpin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-gilpin/) > [“The Bible's message must not be subjected to cultural imperialism. Its message transcends the culture in which it originated, but the form in which…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-h-walton/the-bible-s-message-must-not-be-subjected-to-cultural-imperialism-its/) [John H. Walton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-h-walton/) > [Otherwise, we will not be able to defeat the U.S. imperialists who boast of their technological superiority.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kim-il-sung/otherwise-we-will-not-be-able-to-defeat-the-u-s-imperialists-who/) [Kim Il-sung](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kim-il-sung/) > [“What imperialists actually wanted was expansion of political power without the foundation of the body politic. Imperialist expansion had been touched off by a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hannah-arendt/what-imperialists-actually-wanted-was-expansion-of-political-power/) [Hannah Arendt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hannah-arendt/) ## More by Mark Steyn > [Popular culture as a whole is popular, but in today's fragmented market it's a jostle of competing unpopular popular cultures. As the critic Stanley…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-steyn/popular-culture-as-a-whole-is-popular-but-in-today-s-fragmented/) [Mark Steyn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-steyn/) > [“The populations of wealthy democratic societies expect to have total choice over their satellite TV packages, yet think it perfectly normal to allow the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-steyn/the-populations-of-wealthy-democratic-societies-expect-to-have-total/) [Mark Steyn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-steyn/) > [For Al Gore and Paul Ehrlich and Co., whatever the problem, the solution is always the same. Whether it's global cooling, global warming, or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-steyn/for-al-gore-and-paul-ehrlich-and-co-whatever-the-problem-the-solution/) [Mark Steyn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-steyn/) > [Sadly, a U.S. invasion of Iraq 'would threaten the whole stability of the Middle East' - or so Amr Moussa, secretary-general of the Arab…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-steyn/sadly-a-u-s-invasion-of-iraq-would-threaten-the-whole-stability-of/) [Mark Steyn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-steyn/) > [I don't think Donald Trump is a conservative. I think his line on China for example, that he's going to talk tough to China.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-steyn/i-don-t-think-donald-trump-is-a-conservative-i-think-his-line-on/) [Mark Steyn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-steyn/) > [A big chunk of Western civilization, consciously or otherwise, has given the impression that it's dying to surrender to somebody, anybody. Reasonably enough, Islam…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-steyn/a-big-chunk-of-western-civilization-consciously-or-otherwise-has/) [Mark Steyn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-steyn/) > [“But that's Islam in the third millennium: they want the certainties of seventh-century society with the conveniences of the twenty-first century.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-steyn/but-that-s-islam-in-the-third-millennium-they-want-the-certainties-of/) [Mark Steyn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-steyn/) > [The progressive Left can be in favor of Big Government or population control but not both. The mutual incompatibility is about to plunge Europe…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-steyn/the-progressive-left-can-be-in-favor-of-big-government-or-population/) [Mark Steyn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-steyn/) > [“But in practice the lack of belief in divine presence is just as likely to lead to humans avoiding responsibility: if there's nothing other…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-steyn/but-in-practice-the-lack-of-belief-in-divine-presence-is-just-as/) [Mark Steyn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-steyn/) > [No family of an American hostage has ever been prosecuted for paying a ransom for the return of their loved ones. The last thing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-steyn/no-family-of-an-american-hostage-has-ever-been-prosecuted-for-paying/) [Mark Steyn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-steyn/) > [“America is now a land that rewards failure--at the personal, corporate and state level. If you reward it, you get more of it. If…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-steyn/america-is-now-a-land-that-rewards-failure-at-the-personal-corporate/) [Mark Steyn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-steyn/) > [Obama's Nobel Peace Prize is an exquisite act of condescension from Norwegians, a dog biscuit and a pat on the head to the American…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-steyn/obama-s-nobel-peace-prize-is-an-exquisite-act-of-condescension-from/) [Mark Steyn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-steyn/) > [“You cannot wage a sustained ideological assault on your own civilization without grave consequences. We are approaching the end of the Anglo-American moment, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-steyn/you-cannot-wage-a-sustained-ideological-assault-on-your-own/) [Mark Steyn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-steyn/) > [“Almost by definition, secularism cannot be a future: it's a present-tense culture that over time disconnects a society from cross-generational purpose. Which is why…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-steyn/almost-by-definition-secularism-cannot-be-a-future-it-s-a-present/) [Mark Steyn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-steyn/) > [Her Majesty's government is engaging not merely in Orwellian Newspeak but in self-defeating Orwellian Newspeak. The broader message it sends is that ours is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-steyn/her-majesty-s-government-is-engaging-not-merely-in-orwellian-newspeak/) [Mark Steyn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-steyn/) [Explore all 204 Mark Steyn quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-steyn/) ## More Ancient quotes > [“We ought to know the history of our ancient ancestors.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lailah-gifty-akita/we-ought-to-know-the-history-of-our-ancient-ancestors/) [Lailah Gifty Akita](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lailah-gifty-akita/) > [In ancient times, those who wished to illuminate the world with virtue first brought order to their nations. Wishing to order well their nations,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/confucius/in-ancient-times-those-who-wished-to-illuminate-the-world-with-virtue/) [Confucius](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/confucius/) > [Ancient eyes had stared at me, filled with ancient grief. And something more. Something so alien and unexpected that I'd almost burst into tears.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karen-marie-moning/ancient-eyes-had-stared-at-me-filled-with-ancient-grief-and-something/) [Karen Marie Moning](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karen-marie-moning/) > [“Whenever I think about ancient cultures nostalgia seizes me. Perhaps this is nothing but envy of the sweet slowness of the history of that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/milan-kundera/whenever-i-think-about-ancient-cultures-nostalgia-seizes-me-perhaps/) [Milan Kundera](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/milan-kundera/) > [I don't know if I've come of age, but I'm certainly older now. I feel shrunken, as if there's a tiny ancient Oliver Tate…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joe-dunthorne/i-don-t-know-if-i-ve-come-of-age-but-i-m-certainly-older-now-i-feel/) [Joe Dunthorne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joe-dunthorne/) > [Tentatively I stood a great lump of wood on the chopping block and bought the axe down on it. It flew into two perfect…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/helen-garner/tentatively-i-stood-a-great-lump-of-wood-on-the-chopping-block-and/) [Helen Garner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/helen-garner/) > [Men must speak English who can write Sanskrit; they must speak a modern language who write, perchance, an ancient and universal one.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-david-thoreau/men-must-speak-english-who-can-write-sanskrit-they-must-speak-a/) [Henry David Thoreau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-david-thoreau/) > [The Tao is the center of the universe, the good man's treasure, the bad man's refuge. Honors can be bought with fine words, respect…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laozi/the-tao-is-the-center-of-the-universe-the-good-man-s-treasure-the-bad/) [Laozi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laozi/) > [So too, monks, I saw the ancient path, the ancient road traveled by the Perfectly Enlightened Ones of the past. And what is that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gautama-buddha/so-too-monks-i-saw-the-ancient-path-the-ancient-road-traveled-by-the/) [Gautama Buddha](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gautama-buddha/) > [Ancient societies had anthropomorphic gods: a huge pantheon expanding into centuries of dynastic drama; fathers and sons, martyred heroes, star-crossed lovers, the deaths of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-hiddleston/ancient-societies-had-anthropomorphic-gods-a-huge-pantheon-expanding/) [Tom Hiddleston](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-hiddleston/) > [My life shall be free and broad and great, and I will not be the slave to the sense delights which chained my ancient…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jack-london/my-life-shall-be-free-and-broad-and-great-and-i-will-not-be-the-slave/) [Jack London](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jack-london/) > [Those of us with this ancient compulsion to tell stories sometimes start with a single kernel of something.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-p-jones/those-of-us-with-this-ancient-compulsion-to-tell-stories-sometimes/) [Edward P. Jones](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-p-jones/) > [All the stories I have told you are finally as useless as all ancient knowledge is to man and to us. Its images and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-rice/all-the-stories-i-have-told-you-are-finally-as-useless-as-all-ancient/) [Anne Rice](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-rice/) > [So what if I'm ninety-three? So what if I'm ancient and cranky and my body's a wreck? If they're willing to accept me and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sara-gruen/so-what-if-i-m-ninety-three-so-what-if-i-m-ancient-and-cranky-and-my/) [Sara Gruen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sara-gruen/) > [Science has revealed a universe that is vast, ancient, violent, strange, and beautiful, a universe of almost infinite variety and possibility one in which…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leonard-mlodinow/science-has-revealed-a-universe-that-is-vast-ancient-violent-strange/) [Leonard Mlodinow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leonard-mlodinow/) [Browse all 2,415 Ancient quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ancient/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "For all the casual slurs about 'cultural imperialism', British imperialists were more interested in other cultures than anybody before or since, and, if they hadn't dug it up and taken care of it, we'd know hardly anything about the ancient world. What's important about a nation's past is not what it keeps walled up in the museum but what it keeps outside, living and breathing as every citizen's inheritance.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Mark Steyn" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-steyn/for-all-the-casual-slurs-about-cultural-imperialism-british/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Ancient" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-steyn/for-all-the-casual-slurs-about-cultural-imperialism-british/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/bf9/mark-steyn-1844_ancient_for-all-the-casual-slurs-about-cultural_984727.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/bf9/mark-steyn-1844_ancient_for-all-the-casual-slurs-about-cultural_984727.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/bf9/mark-steyn-1844_ancient_for-all-the-casual-slurs-about-cultural_984727.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“For all the casual slurs about 'cultural imperialism', British imperialists were more interested in other…” — Mark Steyn", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Mark Steyn", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-steyn/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "For all the casual slurs about...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-steyn/for-all-the-casual-slurs-about-cultural-imperialism-british/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-steyn/for-all-the-casual-slurs-about-cultural-imperialism-british/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```