---
title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: If the 20th century was marked by travel…"
description: "\"If the 20th century was marked by travel - planes in flight - then the events of 9/11 ushered in the age of the burning aftermath.\" — Amitava Kumar"
image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/647/amitava-kumar-5002_20th-century_if-the-20th-century-was-marked-by-travel_1531770.png"
---

#  If the 20th century was marked by travel - planes in…

![“If the 20th century was marked by travel - planes in flight - then the events of 9/11 ushered in the age of the burning aftermath.” quote by Amitava Kumar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/647/amitava-kumar-5002_20th-century_if-the-20th-century-was-marked-by-travel_1531770.png)   [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/647/amitava-kumar-5002_20th-century_if-the-20th-century-was-marked-by-travel_1531770.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/647/amitava-kumar-5002_20th-century_if-the-20th-century-was-marked-by-travel_1531770.png)

> “If the 20th century was marked by travel - planes in flight - then the events of 9/11 ushered in the age of the burning aftermath.”

[Amitava Kumar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amitava-kumar/)

## About This Quote

This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation.

The quote suggests that the trauma of 9/11 reshaped global consciousness, turning the world into a lingering, destructive aftermath.

**In simple terms:** 9/11 changed how we see the world, making it seem scarred.

Key Takeaway

Recognize how crises reshape perception.

Themes

history trauma perception politics media

Mood

somber reflective

Type

analytical philosophical

When to use this quote

- policy analysis
- journalism
- education
- public discourse

Key Concepts

post‑9/11 collective memory risk perception

Questions to Reflect On

- How do we balance acknowledging trauma with recognizing resilience?
- What other events have similarly altered global outlooks?

A Different Perspective

It may overgeneralize a complex era to a single metaphor.

★ ★ ★ ★ ★   No ratings yet

[Age](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/age/) [Events](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/events/) [Israel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/israel/) [Planes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/planes/) [Travel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/travel/)

## Related quotes

> [I think the inhabitants of the past are fighting hard to keep the rents they acquired in the 20th century.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-bennet/i-think-the-inhabitants-of-the-past-are-fighting-hard-to-keep-the/)

[Michael Bennet](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-bennet/)

> [An interesting thing about New Zealand, you know, literature is that it really didn't begin in any real sense until the 20th century.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eleanor-catton/an-interesting-thing-about-new-zealand-you-know-literature-is-that-it/)

[Eleanor Catton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eleanor-catton/)

> [Cruel and paradoxical though it undoubtedly is, the record shows that yje most succesful 20th century monarchs have been those who were not actually…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-cannadine/cruel-and-paradoxical-though-it-undoubtedly-is-the-record-shows-that/)

[David Cannadine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-cannadine/)

> [If you look at that incredible burst of fantastic characters that emerged in the late 19th century/early 20th century, you can see so many…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-moore/if-you-look-at-that-incredible-burst-of-fantastic-characters-that/)

[Alan Moore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-moore/)

> [I think this century more than any other really has seen the phenomenon of people being uprooted in such numbers, such a degree. They…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elie-wiesel/i-think-this-century-more-than-any-other-really-has-seen-the/)

[Elie Wiesel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elie-wiesel/)

> [Up to the 20th century, we can say that this whole period was an Earth epoch, 'Earth' meaning the riches of the earth, simple…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lech-walesa/up-to-the-20th-century-we-can-say-that-this-whole-period-was-an-earth/)

[Lech Walesa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lech-walesa/)

> [If you look back on the history of the 20th century, the 19th century or even to the ancien régime of the 18th, you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/zygmunt-bauman/if-you-look-back-on-the-history-of-the-20th-century-the-19th-century/)

[Zygmunt Bauman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/zygmunt-bauman/)

> [That is very different from how it used to be in the 20th century. Media was very one way. There's a small little industry.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-gordon-levitt/that-is-very-different-from-how-it-used-to-be-in-the-20th-century/)

[Joseph Gordon-Levitt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-gordon-levitt/)

> [The great wars of the 20th Century made it into the worst Century ever.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-ambrose/the-great-wars-of-the-20th-century-made-it-into-the-worst-century-ever/)

[Stephen Ambrose](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-ambrose/)

> [Universal literacy was a 20th-century goal. Before then, reading and writing were skills largely confined to a small, highly educated class of professional people.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hugh-mackay/universal-literacy-was-a-20th-century-goal-before-then-reading-and/)

[Hugh Mackay](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hugh-mackay/)

> [I've studied the lives of the 20th century's great businessmen and concluded self-confidence was instrumental in all their success.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alex-spanos/i-ve-studied-the-lives-of-the-20th-century-s-great-businessmen-and/)

[Alex Spanos](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alex-spanos/)

> [The 20th century has been marked by cynicism, selfishness, greed, and the desire to please, all without changing the status quo. In the 21st…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/scar-arias/the-20th-century-has-been-marked-by-cynicism-selfishness-greed-and/)

[Óscar Arias](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/scar-arias/)

> [America thrived in the 20th century because we made high school free. We sent a generation to college. We cultivated the most educated workforce…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barack-obama/america-thrived-in-the-20th-century-because-we-made-high-school-free/)

[Barack Obama](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barack-obama/)

> [Corporate America is a 20th-century dinosaur, trembling on the edge of extinction, and the only way for you to have a genuinely secure future…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-kiyosaki/corporate-america-is-a-20th-century-dinosaur-trembling-on-the-edge-of/)

[Robert Kiyosaki](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-kiyosaki/)

> [The Warmth of Other Suns is a sweeping and yet deeply personal tale of America's hidden 20th century history - the long and difficult…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-brokaw/the-warmth-of-other-suns-is-a-sweeping-and-yet-deeply-personal-tale/)

[Tom Brokaw](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-brokaw/)

## More by Amitava Kumar

> [I thought I'd be the first to introduce herbal tea to Patna. White tea, ginger tea, rooibos, camomile. No one touched it. On subsequent…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amitava-kumar/i-thought-i-d-be-the-first-to-introduce-herbal-tea-to-patna-white-tea/)

[Amitava Kumar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amitava-kumar/)

> [Any real piece of writing is an act of courage.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amitava-kumar/any-real-piece-of-writing-is-an-act-of-courage/)

[Amitava Kumar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amitava-kumar/)

> [We live in a cynical system where the powerful are able to exploit the demand of the aggressive few, from whichever religion or group,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amitava-kumar/we-live-in-a-cynical-system-where-the-powerful-are-able-to-exploit/)

[Amitava Kumar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amitava-kumar/)

> [For some members of the radical Left, particularly in the West, people in developing countries are an ideological abstraction, on whom fantasies of liberation…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amitava-kumar/for-some-members-of-the-radical-left-particularly-in-the-west-people/)

[Amitava Kumar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amitava-kumar/)

> [The writer will write in his or her words, but the readers, even when they are not reading you, will take it elsewhere entirely.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amitava-kumar/the-writer-will-write-in-his-or-her-words-but-the-readers-even-when/)

[Amitava Kumar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amitava-kumar/)

> [My past makes me an insider, but my profession makes me an outsider. A writer always stands outside to report on reality.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amitava-kumar/my-past-makes-me-an-insider-but-my-profession-makes-me-an-outsider-a/)

[Amitava Kumar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amitava-kumar/)

> [“There is no point in fighting condescension with condescension.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amitava-kumar/there-is-no-point-in-fighting-condescension-with-condescension/)

[Amitava Kumar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amitava-kumar/)

> [We learn that our lives find narrative form neither in the tired, familiar slogans of our captains nor in the symmetries of ideological camps,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amitava-kumar/we-learn-that-our-lives-find-narrative-form-neither-in-the-tired/)

[Amitava Kumar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amitava-kumar/)

> [All good works of art must ask this question: 'You want to breathe free, yes, but do you know how to kiss?'](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amitava-kumar/all-good-works-of-art-must-ask-this-question-you-want-to-breathe-free/)

[Amitava Kumar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amitava-kumar/)

> [An essay is not an op-ed that tells its reader what to think. An essay is a complicated working-out of one's own contradictions and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amitava-kumar/an-essay-is-not-an-op-ed-that-tells-its-reader-what-to-think-an-essay/)

[Amitava Kumar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amitava-kumar/)

> [Does the entry of Indian H-1B worker augur a change in the relations of production in the world of cybertechnology? No, but the presence…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amitava-kumar/does-the-entry-of-indian-h-1b-worker-augur-a-change-in-the-relations/)

[Amitava Kumar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amitava-kumar/)

> [Michael Ondaatje’s work taught me how to be at home in fragments, and how to think about a big story in carefully curated vignettes.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amitava-kumar/michael-ondaatje-s-work-taught-me-how-to-be-at-home-in-fragments-and/)

[Amitava Kumar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amitava-kumar/)

> [The thing about good art is that it makes you look at things in a new way.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amitava-kumar/the-thing-about-good-art-is-that-it-makes-you-look-at-things-in-a-new/)

[Amitava Kumar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amitava-kumar/)

> [To write what is not dead on the page, one has to be open to all kinds of disturbances and challenges and confusion.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amitava-kumar/to-write-what-is-not-dead-on-the-page-one-has-to-be-open-to-all-kinds/)

[Amitava Kumar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amitava-kumar/)

> [Inequality reigns in horrifying ways, and not everyone can even read, but the world of media and advertising withholds very little from the imagination…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amitava-kumar/inequality-reigns-in-horrifying-ways-and-not-everyone-can-even-read/)

[Amitava Kumar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amitava-kumar/)

[Explore all 104 Amitava Kumar quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amitava-kumar/)

## More 20th century quotes

> [I think the inhabitants of the past are fighting hard to keep the rents they acquired in the 20th century.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-bennet/i-think-the-inhabitants-of-the-past-are-fighting-hard-to-keep-the/)

[Michael Bennet](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-bennet/)

> [Corporate America is a 20th-century dinosaur, trembling on the edge of extinction, and the only way for you to have a genuinely secure future…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-kiyosaki/corporate-america-is-a-20th-century-dinosaur-trembling-on-the-edge-of/)

[Robert Kiyosaki](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-kiyosaki/)

> [America thrived in the 20th century because we made high school free. We sent a generation to college. We cultivated the most educated workforce…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barack-obama/america-thrived-in-the-20th-century-because-we-made-high-school-free/)

[Barack Obama](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barack-obama/)

> [The 20th century has been marked by cynicism, selfishness, greed, and the desire to please, all without changing the status quo. In the 21st…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/scar-arias/the-20th-century-has-been-marked-by-cynicism-selfishness-greed-and/)

[Óscar Arias](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/scar-arias/)

> [I've studied the lives of the 20th century's great businessmen and concluded self-confidence was instrumental in all their success.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alex-spanos/i-ve-studied-the-lives-of-the-20th-century-s-great-businessmen-and/)

[Alex Spanos](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alex-spanos/)

> [Universal literacy was a 20th-century goal. Before then, reading and writing were skills largely confined to a small, highly educated class of professional people.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hugh-mackay/universal-literacy-was-a-20th-century-goal-before-then-reading-and/)

[Hugh Mackay](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hugh-mackay/)

> [The great wars of the 20th Century made it into the worst Century ever.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-ambrose/the-great-wars-of-the-20th-century-made-it-into-the-worst-century-ever/)

[Stephen Ambrose](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-ambrose/)

> [That is very different from how it used to be in the 20th century. Media was very one way. There's a small little industry.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-gordon-levitt/that-is-very-different-from-how-it-used-to-be-in-the-20th-century/)

[Joseph Gordon-Levitt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-gordon-levitt/)

> [If you look back on the history of the 20th century, the 19th century or even to the ancien régime of the 18th, you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/zygmunt-bauman/if-you-look-back-on-the-history-of-the-20th-century-the-19th-century/)

[Zygmunt Bauman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/zygmunt-bauman/)

> [Up to the 20th century, we can say that this whole period was an Earth epoch, 'Earth' meaning the riches of the earth, simple…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lech-walesa/up-to-the-20th-century-we-can-say-that-this-whole-period-was-an-earth/)

[Lech Walesa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lech-walesa/)

> [I think this century more than any other really has seen the phenomenon of people being uprooted in such numbers, such a degree. They…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elie-wiesel/i-think-this-century-more-than-any-other-really-has-seen-the/)

[Elie Wiesel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elie-wiesel/)

> [If you look at that incredible burst of fantastic characters that emerged in the late 19th century/early 20th century, you can see so many…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-moore/if-you-look-at-that-incredible-burst-of-fantastic-characters-that/)

[Alan Moore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-moore/)

> [Cruel and paradoxical though it undoubtedly is, the record shows that yje most succesful 20th century monarchs have been those who were not actually…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-cannadine/cruel-and-paradoxical-though-it-undoubtedly-is-the-record-shows-that/)

[David Cannadine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-cannadine/)

> [An interesting thing about New Zealand, you know, literature is that it really didn't begin in any real sense until the 20th century.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eleanor-catton/an-interesting-thing-about-new-zealand-you-know-literature-is-that-it/)

[Eleanor Catton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eleanor-catton/)

> [The Warmth of Other Suns is a sweeping and yet deeply personal tale of America's hidden 20th century history - the long and difficult…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-brokaw/the-warmth-of-other-suns-is-a-sweeping-and-yet-deeply-personal-tale/)

[Tom Brokaw](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-brokaw/)

Browse all 672 20th century quotes

```json
{
    "@context": "https://schema.org",
    "@graph": [
        {
            "@type": "Quotation",
            "text": "If the 20th century was marked by travel - planes in flight - then the events of 9/11 ushered in the age of the burning aftermath.",
            "creator": {
                "@type": "Person",
                "name": "Amitava Kumar"
            },
            "isPartOf": {
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website"
            },
            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amitava-kumar/if-the-20th-century-was-marked-by-travel-planes-in-flight-then-the/",
            "about": {
                "@type": "Thing",
                "name": "20th century"
            },
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amitava-kumar/if-the-20th-century-was-marked-by-travel-planes-in-flight-then-the/#quotation",
            "image": {
                "@type": "ImageObject",
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/647/amitava-kumar-5002_20th-century_if-the-20th-century-was-marked-by-travel_1531770.png",
                "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/647/amitava-kumar-5002_20th-century_if-the-20th-century-was-marked-by-travel_1531770.png",
                "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/647/amitava-kumar-5002_20th-century_if-the-20th-century-was-marked-by-travel_1531770.png",
                "width": 1080,
                "height": 1080,
                "caption": "“If the 20th century was marked by travel - planes in flight - then the events of 9/11 ushered in the age of…” — Amitava Kumar",
                "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes",
                "creator": {
                    "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization"
                }
            }
        },
        {
            "@type": "BreadcrumbList",
            "itemListElement": [
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 1,
                    "name": "Home",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/"
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 2,
                    "name": "Quotes",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/"
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 3,
                    "name": "Amitava Kumar",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amitava-kumar/"
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 4,
                    "name": "If the 20th century was marked...",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amitava-kumar/if-the-20th-century-was-marked-by-travel-planes-in-flight-then-the/"
                }
            ],
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amitava-kumar/if-the-20th-century-was-marked-by-travel-planes-in-flight-then-the/#breadcrumb"
        },
        {
            "@type": "WebSite",
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website",
            "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes",
            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/",
            "publisher": {
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization"
            }
        },
        {
            "@type": "Organization",
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization",
            "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes",
            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/",
            "logo": {
                "@type": "ImageObject",
                "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png",
                "width": 512,
                "height": 512
            }
        }
    ]
}
```