“The Louvre stopped buying paintings in 1848, and neither the Metropoli...” — Neil MacGregor Quote

“The Louvre stopped buying paintings in 1848, and neither the Metropolitan nor the Hermitage acquire contemporary material.”

“While there are few records of Viking women participating in battle, they certainly held positions of high status in society as human sorceresses known as 'volvas.'”

“The focus in the Western pictorial tradition is on the body of Christ, the bit you can paint, the Nativity and the infancy, but above all the Passion, where you can find images for every stage and every moment.”

“Saddam Hussein was fascinated by ancient Babylon and Assyria. He made money available to protect and develop the great archaeological sites. The great achievements of Mesopotamian civilisation were pressed into the service of the Ba'athist regime.”

“The British Museum was founded with a civic purpose: to allow the citizen, through reasoned inquiry and comparison, to resist the certainties that endanger free society and are still among the greatest threats to our liberty.”

“The industrial society... recognises nothing except the power to acquire... No other kind of hope or satisfaction or pleasure can any longer be envisaged within the culture of capitalism.”

“We're seeing a crazy appetite for people to acquire and invest in British businesses.”

“Each co-operative institution will become a school of business in which each member will acquire a knowledge of the laws of trade and commerce.”

“In midlife, I feel that my tendency to acquire books is rather like someone smoking two packs a day: it's a terrible vice that I wish I could shuck.”

“Over time, a successful company will acquire much in the way of resources and momentum, and these things often insulate it from reality once it has stopped being successful.”

“The word 'seek' means to go in search of, try to discover, try to acquire. It requires an active, assertive approach to life.”