The history of utopias is a fascinating study because men in uto… — The Museum as Large-Room Pinball Machine, Marshall McLuhan, Harley Parker, and Museum Professionals, 1967, full transcript of a seminar at the City Museum of New York, October 9-10, 1967, edited by William Buxton, U. of Alberta Press, 2026, p 172

A dictionary of Marshall McLuhan’s quotations

The history of utopias is a fascinating study because men in utopias always thought they were projecting ideal images of some age to come, whereas they were in fact taking detailed pictures of the days just behind them. … That’s just as true of George Orwell as it is of Bonanza or Plato’s Republic. They are all rearview mirrors of the preceding ago…. That’s what we’re doing now, today. Is not a museum an image of the preceding age, not the present? It’s a utopian image of a preceding age, not our time at all.

The Museum as Large-Room Pinball Machine, Marshall McLuhan, Harley Parker, and Museum Professionals, 1967, full transcript of a seminar at the City Museum of New York, October 9-10, 1967, edited by William Buxton, U. of Alberta Press, 2026, p 172

Quote #6047

Year: 1967

Chapter: Rear View Mirror