--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: There is a constant in the average…" description: "\"There is a constant in the average American imagination and taste, for which the past must be preserved and celebrated in full-scale authentic copy; a ..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b10/umberto-eco-313_america_there-is-a-constant-in-the-average-ameri_1312276.jpg" --- # There is a constant in the average American imagination… ![“There is a constant in the average American imagination and taste, for which the past must be preserved and celebrated in full-scale authentic copy; a philosophy of immortality as duplication. It dominates the relation with the self, with the past, not infrequently with the present, always with…” quote by Umberto Eco](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b10/umberto-eco-313_america_there-is-a-constant-in-the-average-ameri_1312276.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b10/umberto-eco-313_america_there-is-a-constant-in-the-average-ameri_1312276.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b10/umberto-eco-313_america_there-is-a-constant-in-the-average-ameri_1312276.jpg) > “There is a constant in the average American imagination and taste, for which the past must be preserved and celebrated in full-scale authentic copy; a philosophy of immortality as duplication. It dominates the relation with the self, with the past, not infrequently with the present, always with History and, even, with the European tradition.” [Umberto Eco](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/umberto-eco/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The quote critiques how American culture obsessively recreates the past, seeking immortality through exact copies, which shapes identity and relationship with history. **In simple terms:** America copies the past to feel immortal, affecting self and history. Key Takeaway Question originality over replication. Themes culture history identity nostalgia authenticity Mood reflective critical analytical Type philosophical commentary When to use this quote - museum curation - heritage tourism - personal genealogy - academic research Key Concepts postmodernism cultural criticism memory Questions to Reflect On - How does recreating history limit future creativity? - What values are lost when authenticity is replaced by replication? A Different Perspective Exact duplication can stifle innovation and personal growth. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [America](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/america/) [American Imagination](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/american-imagination-783132/) [Average](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/average/) [Constant](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/constant/) [Copies](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/copies/) [Copy Philosophy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/copy-philosophy-4345612/) [Creativity](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/creativity/) [Duplication](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/duplication/) [History](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/history/) [Imagination](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/imagination/) [Immortality](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/immortality/) [Immortality Duplication](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/immortality-duplication-4345611/) [Past](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/past/) [Philosophy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/philosophy/) [Philosophy Immortality](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/philosophy-immortality-4345610/) [Relation](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/relation/) [Scales](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/scales/) [Self](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/self/) [Taste](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/taste/) [Time](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/time/) [Tradition](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/tradition/) ## Related quotes > [“The American imagination has never been able to fully recover from its white-supremacist beginnings. 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Winner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lauren-f-winner/) > [We are reorganizing in order to eliminate duplication and redundancy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/herb-caen/we-are-reorganizing-in-order-to-eliminate-duplication-and-redundancy/) [Herb Caen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/herb-caen/) > [Success without duplication is merely future failure in disguise.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/randy-gage/success-without-duplication-is-merely-future-failure-in-disguise/) [Randy Gage](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/randy-gage/) > [“Duplication may be the root of all evil in software.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-c-martin/duplication-may-be-the-root-of-all-evil-in-software/) [Robert C. Martin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-c-martin/) > [“Beauty is the replication and duplication of mind’s delusion. 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Moonzajer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/m-f-moonzajer/) > [Photographs are but one link in a potentially endless chain of reduplication; themselves duplicates (of both their objects and, in a sense, their negatives),…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/craig-owens/photographs-are-but-one-link-in-a-potentially-endless-chain-of/) [Craig Owens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/craig-owens/) > [Hip-hop in Africa has been very often a duplication of an American experience, but in a context that's totally alien to it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/k-naan/hip-hop-in-africa-has-been-very-often-a-duplication-of-an-american/) [K'naan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/k-naan/) > [The problems of this world are only truly solved in two ways: by extinction or duplication.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-sontag/the-problems-of-this-world-are-only-truly-solved-in-two-ways-by/) [Susan Sontag](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-sontag/) > [Duplication never works for anybody.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dulquer-salmaan/duplication-never-works-for-anybody/) [Dulquer Salmaan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dulquer-salmaan/) > [Or the Department of Education and another ministry were worried about duplication of effort, so what did they do? They set up two committees…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rory-bremner/or-the-department-of-education-and-another-ministry-were-worried/) [Rory Bremner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rory-bremner/) > [“If I have the same logic in two places, I work with the design to understand how I can have only one copy. Designs…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kent-beck/if-i-have-the-same-logic-in-two-places-i-work-with-the-design-to/) [Kent Beck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kent-beck/) ## More by Umberto Eco > [I think that at a certain age, say fifteen or sixteen, poetry is like masturbation. 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