Utopia – Thomas More

"For things will never be perfect, until human beings are perfect."

Thomas More coins the word 'Utopia' (meaning 'nowhere') to describe an imaginary island nation with a perfect legal, social, and political system. In this society, there is no private property, religious tolerance is practiced, and everyone works for the common good. The book contrasts this ideal state with the corruption and poverty of 16th-century Europe.

More's classic satire established the genre of utopian literature. It remains a provocative exploration of the possibilities of social engineering and the eternal human desire for a better world, while implicitly questioning whether such perfection is possible or even desirable.