"The burden of the past is only, I think, oppressive when you've got to go on the experience of the avant garde"

This quote by Jonathan Miller speaks with the concept that the past can be a burden, however only if we enable it to be. He recommends that if we focus on the experience of the avant garde, or the innovators and pioneers of today, then the burden of the past can be raised. This is due to the fact that the avant garde are the ones who are pushing the borders and developing something new, something that is not bound by the conventions of the past. By looking to the avant garde, we can be influenced to create something new and interesting, rather than being weighed down by the expectations of the past. In this way, the avant garde can assist us to break devoid of the burden of the past and create something genuinely unique.