--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: A collection that embraces the whole…" description: "\"A collection that embraces the whole world allows you to consider the whole world. That is what an institution such as the British Museum is for.\" — Ne..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0f5/neil-macgregor-16366_artist_a-collection-that-embraces-the-whole-wor_2644207.jpg" --- # A collection that embraces the whole world allows you to… ![“A collection that embraces the whole world allows you to consider the whole world. That is what an institution such as the British Museum is for.” quote by Neil MacGregor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0f5/neil-macgregor-16366_artist_a-collection-that-embraces-the-whole-wor_2644207.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0f5/neil-macgregor-16366_artist_a-collection-that-embraces-the-whole-wor_2644207.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0f5/neil-macgregor-16366_artist_a-collection-that-embraces-the-whole-wor_2644207.jpg) > “A collection that embraces the whole world allows you to consider the whole world. That is what an institution such as the British Museum is for.” [Neil MacGregor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-macgregor/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. A museum that represents the whole world helps us view humanity in its entirety. **In simple terms:** Museums broaden global perspective. Key Takeaway Visit inclusive institutions to understand humanity. Themes culture inclusion education Mood reflective inspiring Type philosophical educational When to use this quote - touring world museums - integrating diverse artifacts - educational programming - community outreach Key Concepts global heritage public understanding Questions to Reflect On - How can museums become more inclusive? - What stories are missing from current collections? A Different Perspective Funding and representation can be uneven. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Artist](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/artist/) [British](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/british/) [British museum](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/british-museum/) [Collection](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/collection/) [Collection Embraces](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/collection-embraces-2296121/) [Consider](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/consider/) [Consider World](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/consider-world-420724/) [Embraces](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/embraces/) [Embraces World](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/embraces-world-2296122/) [Institution](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/institution/) [Museum](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/museum/) [Whole](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/whole/) [Whole world](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/whole-world/) [World](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/world/) [You](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/you/) ## Related quotes > [“Prayer at once embraces our world and yet constantly measures and weighs it.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-wilkes/prayer-at-once-embraces-our-world-and-yet-constantly-measures-and/) [Paul Wilkes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-wilkes/) > [As freely as the firmament embraces the world, so mercy must encircle friend and foe. The sun poursforth impartially his beams through all the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-schiller/as-freely-as-the-firmament-embraces-the-world-so-mercy-must-encircle/) [Friedrich Schiller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-schiller/) > [As freely as the firmament embraces the world, or the sun pours forth impartially his beams, so mercy must encircle both friend and foe.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-schiller/as-freely-as-the-firmament-embraces-the-world-or-the-sun-pours-forth/) [Friedrich Schiller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-schiller/) > [Because of the long, long history of British shipping, immigration, trade, empire, missionaries, you can have a better shot at telling a worldwide story…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-macgregor/because-of-the-long-long-history-of-british-shipping-immigration/) [Neil MacGregor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-macgregor/) > [The British Museum was founded with a civic purpose: to allow the citizen, through reasoned inquiry and comparison, to resist the certainties that endanger…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-macgregor/the-british-museum-was-founded-with-a-civic-purpose-to-allow-the/) [Neil MacGregor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-macgregor/) > [It is a standing source of astonishment and amusement to visitors that the British Museum has so few British things in it: that it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-macgregor/it-is-a-standing-source-of-astonishment-and-amusement-to-visitors/) [Neil MacGregor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-macgregor/) > [For many, the icon of the British Museum is the Rosetta Stone, that administrative by-product of the Greek imperial adventure in Africa.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-macgregor/for-many-the-icon-of-the-british-museum-is-the-rosetta-stone-that/) [Neil MacGregor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-macgregor/) > [I do value my work awfully; but in reality only consider this: all this world of ours is nothing but a speck of mildew,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leo-tolstoy/i-do-value-my-work-awfully-but-in-reality-only-consider-this-all-this/) [Leo Tolstoy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leo-tolstoy/) > [I consider this world to be like a school and our lives to be the classrooms.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oprah-winfrey/i-consider-this-world-to-be-like-a-school-and-our-lives-to-be-the/) [Oprah Winfrey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oprah-winfrey/) > [“To consider the world in its length and breadth, its various history, the many races of man, their starts, their fortunes, their mutual alienation,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-henry-newman/to-consider-the-world-in-its-length-and-breadth-its-various-history/) [John Henry Newman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-henry-newman/) > [“People that consider the world divided in two parts, are attached to the illusion of reality. There are not such thing as two parts.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robin-sacredfire/people-that-consider-the-world-divided-in-two-parts-are-attached-to/) [Robin Sacredfire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robin-sacredfire/) > [“Consider a world in which cause and effect are erratic. Sometimes the first precedes the second, sometimes the second the first… Each act is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-lightman/consider-a-world-in-which-cause-and-effect-are-erratic-sometimes-the-2/) [Alan Lightman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-lightman/) > [“Consider a world in which cause and effect are erratic. Sometimes the first precedes the second, and sometimes the second the first. Or perhaps…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-lightman/consider-a-world-in-which-cause-and-effect-are-erratic-sometimes-the/) [Alan Lightman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-lightman/) > [If you go get a passport, it might encourage you to at least consider the world around you.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chuck-d/if-you-go-get-a-passport-it-might-encourage-you-to-at-least-consider/) [Chuck D](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chuck-d/) > [There is no reason not to consider the world as one gigantic painting,](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-rauschenberg/there-is-no-reason-not-to-consider-the-world-as-one-gigantic-painting/) [Robert Rauschenberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-rauschenberg/) ## More by Neil MacGregor > [“And the more you look at the history of Homo sapiens, it’s all about movement, right from the very first time they decided to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-macgregor/and-the-more-you-look-at-the-history-of-homo-sapiens-it-s-all-about/) [Neil MacGregor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-macgregor/) > [In the world of the Middle East at the moment, the debates are shrill. 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The gallery is about looking at a thing of beauty; the purpose of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-macgregor/the-distinction-between-a-gallery-and-a-museum-is-enormous-the/) [Neil MacGregor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-macgregor/) > [While there are few records of Viking women participating in battle, they certainly held positions of high status in society as human sorceresses known…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-macgregor/while-there-are-few-records-of-viking-women-participating-in-battle/) [Neil MacGregor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-macgregor/) > [“Gold was the attribute of the great Inca sun god and represented his generative powers – gold was described as the ‘sweat of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-macgregor/gold-was-the-attribute-of-the-great-inca-sun-god-and-represented-his/) [Neil MacGregor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-macgregor/) > [Creation stories, so central in the religions of the Middle East, play a surprisingly marginal part in Greek myth. The Greeks had nothing to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-macgregor/creation-stories-so-central-in-the-religions-of-the-middle-east-play/) [Neil MacGregor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-macgregor/) > [The collapse of the Tower of Babel is perhaps the central urban myth. It is certainly the most disquieting. In Babylon, the great city…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-macgregor/the-collapse-of-the-tower-of-babel-is-perhaps-the-central-urban-myth/) [Neil MacGregor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-macgregor/) > [The spread of Viking bling is a good indication of the spread of its culture.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-macgregor/the-spread-of-viking-bling-is-a-good-indication-of-the-spread-of-its/) [Neil MacGregor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-macgregor/) > [Our collective memories are welcoming places, and one image, that of Jesus, has absorbed and appropriated elements of other traditions and aspirations in order…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-macgregor/our-collective-memories-are-welcoming-places-and-one-image-that-of/) [Neil MacGregor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-macgregor/) > [The things we make have one supreme quality - they live longer than us. We perish, they survive; we have one life, they have…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-macgregor/the-things-we-make-have-one-supreme-quality-they-live-longer-than-us/) [Neil MacGregor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-macgregor/) > [In 1600, when Shakespeare's audience at the Globe heard 'Hamlet' for the first time, every one of them knew very well what it meant…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-macgregor/in-1600-when-shakespeare-s-audience-at-the-globe-heard-hamlet-for-the/) [Neil MacGregor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-macgregor/) [Explore all 39 Neil MacGregor quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-macgregor/) ## More Artist quotes > [One is a painter because one wants so-called freedom; one doesn't want to go to the office every morning.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcel-duchamp/one-is-a-painter-because-one-wants-so-called-freedom-one-doesn-t-want/) [Marcel Duchamp](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcel-duchamp/) > [True works of art contain their own theory and give us the measurement according to which we should judge them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/true-works-of-art-contain-their-own-theory-and-give-us-the/) [Johann Wolfgang von Goethe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/) > [I think most artists feel like they're outside society - no matter how many accolades they receive, or how much money is in your…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aaron-rose/i-think-most-artists-feel-like-they-re-outside-society-no-matter-how/) [Aaron Rose](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aaron-rose/) > [“People in coats and ties were milling around the Talley gallery, and on the wall were the minimally rendered still lifes by Giorgio Morandi,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steve-martin/people-in-coats-and-ties-were-milling-around-the-talley-gallery-and/) [Steve Martin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steve-martin/) > [The prophet who fails to present a bearable alternative and yet preaches doom is part of the trap that he postulates. Not only does…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-mead/the-prophet-who-fails-to-present-a-bearable-alternative-and-yet/) [Margaret Mead](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margaret-mead/) > [“So, really," continued Jacob as if this were perfectly normal to expound on art in these circumstances, "when you think about it, the artists…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/justina-chen-headley/so-really-continued-jacob-as-if-this-were-perfectly-normal-to-expound/) [Justina Chen Headley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/justina-chen-headley/) > [“There are two options in art; either to adopt philosophical life by dissecting art, or to write your own philosophical life and claim it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/taf-teh/there-are-two-options-in-art-either-to-adopt-philosophical-life-by/) [Taf Teh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/taf-teh/) > [From as long as I can remember, I was always fond of drawing.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/st-lucia/from-as-long-as-i-can-remember-i-was-always-fond-of-drawing/) [St. Lucia](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/st-lucia/) > [I think a business guy is different from an artist. 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