Quote of the Day (Sir Ben Okri, on Museums As ‘A Tremendous Force for Public Good’)

“The best way to spend £20 is a visit to a good museum, most of which are still free in Britain. Long may this continue. It is a tremendous force for public good. I recommend that you donate half of your £20 to the museum after such a visit, to help them with their work. A pot of tea and some biscuits are all you need to restore yourself before heading back out into the mild hallucination of the outside world.” — Nigerian-born British poet and novelist Sir Ben Okri, "The Aesthete: Ben Okri,” The Financial Times, Aug. 1, 2026 (“How To Spend It” supplement)

Unlike Britain, most U.S. museums charge admission fees. But Sir Ben’s point remains well taken: museums are a “tremendous force for public good” in terms of what they can teach visitors. Let’s keep it that way.