I was present at a college in England recently. For anyone unfamiliar with the administrative structures of English education, a college is, generally speaking, an educational or training provider for students aged 16 years or above; most commonly between the ages of 16 and 19.

In this college, to enliven and inspire the students there were a number of prominent, seeking to be inspiring slogans adorning the walls. All cliched and rather facile for my liking but whose purpose is to motivate students to greater success. In reading them I soon noticed that not one citation came from a British source, living or dead- I am primarily concerned with those who are no more.

The quotations were supplied by the usual sources: Ghandi, Martin Luther King, Maja Angelou, Nelson Mandella and, surprisingly, Lao Tzu. Without overtly wishing to enter into the incessantly overheated control centre of identitarianism, it is tricky not to notice that none of the quotation providers was British nor European.

Is there a dearth of appropriate candidates ?  ( The dreaded word “ appropriate “ insinuates  itself into our  thinking at this point)  We live in a country peculiarly, abundantly, blessed with writers. An extraordinary breadth and depth of poets, writers and thinkers have inhabited this land. A few words surely from one of our wonderful wordsmiths who are kin to these isles would surely be instructive, inspiring and uplifting for our young people ? Apparently not if this college was anything to judge norms by, and my strong suspicion is that these globalised quotations  on the walls of this college are the norm throughout England.

It is a wonder, a terminally perplexing puzzle as to how and why this country is so exceedingly adverse to seeking and locating sources of inspiration from within our immense  creative treasures. No, it is not a wonder, it is a sacrilege. Are our great contributors “ inappropriate “in some sinisterly selective way ?

Must we always decorate our educational locations with people from an entirely different hemisphere ? Why is this dismally predictable rule always implemented by our supposedly intellectual and creative decision makers?

I  relinquish any accusation of parochial, “ nationalist “ contemplation of the issue. Europe provides innumerable potential for stunning citations, something for all from any century and any language, but no, this option too seems to be mindlessly eschewed by the cadre who make these decisions. The cadre responsible for creative diversity and intellectual aspiration are bound by the barren minds of the slavish cadres of conformity and appropriateness.