--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: All this Americanising and mechanising…" description: "\"All this Americanising and mechanising has been for the purpose of overthrowing the past. And now look at America, tangled in her own barbed wire, and ..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/edc/d-h-lawrence-426_america_all-this-americanising-and-mechanising-h_274635.jpg" --- # All this Americanising and mechanising has been for the… ![“All this Americanising and mechanising has been for the purpose of overthrowing the past. And now look at America, tangled in her own barbed wire, and mastered by her own machines.” quote by D. H. Lawrence](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/edc/d-h-lawrence-426_america_all-this-americanising-and-mechanising-h_274635.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/edc/d-h-lawrence-426_america_all-this-americanising-and-mechanising-h_274635.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/edc/d-h-lawrence-426_america_all-this-americanising-and-mechanising-h_274635.jpg) > “All this Americanising and mechanising has been for the purpose of overthrowing the past. And now look at America, tangled in her own barbed wire, and mastered by her own machines.” [D. H. Lawrence](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/d-h-lawrence/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. America’s push for modernization has destroyed its history, leaving it trapped by its own technological creations. **In simple terms:** Modernization erodes tradition, creating self‑inflicted constraints. Key Takeaway Preserve heritage amid progress. Themes modernization technology history identity Mood melancholic reflective Type philosophical critical When to use this quote - Urban planning - education reform - policy making Key Concepts Cultural decay industrialization self‑destruction Questions to Reflect On - What traditions should be protected? - How can technology serve humanity without enslaving it? A Different Perspective May overlook benefits of innovation. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [America](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/america/) [Machines](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/machines/) [Past](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/past/) [Purpose](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/purpose/) [Time](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/time/) ## Related quotes > [The people, especially when moderately instructed, are the only safe, because the only honest, depositaries of the public rights, and should therefore be introduced…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-jefferson/the-people-especially-when-moderately-instructed-are-the-only-safe/) [Thomas Jefferson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-jefferson/) > [Any international system must have two key elements for it to work. One, it has to have a certain equilibrium of power that makes…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-a-kissinger/any-international-system-must-have-two-key-elements-for-it-to-work/) [Henry A. 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The rest had to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stanislaw-lem/what-was-civilization-ever-really-but-the-attempt-by-man-to-talk/) [Stanislaw Lem](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stanislaw-lem/) > [At no time in the past, now or in the future has or will Russia take any part in actions aimed at overthrowing the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vladimir-putin/at-no-time-in-the-past-now-or-in-the-future-has-or-will-russia-take/) [Vladimir Putin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vladimir-putin/) ## More by D. H. Lawrence > [Not I, not I, but the wind that blows through me! A fine wind is blowing the new direction of Time.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/d-h-lawrence/not-i-not-i-but-the-wind-that-blows-through-me-a-fine-wind-is-blowing/) [D. H. 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And America looks to its Corps of Marines.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ronald-reagan/today-the-world-looks-to-america-for-leadership-and-america-looks-to/) [Ronald Reagan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ronald-reagan/) > [The image of blacks usually is one of people who are suffering from hunger, unemployment, and poverty. The idea of them as agents and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/grace-lee-boggs/the-image-of-blacks-usually-is-one-of-people-who-are-suffering-from/) [Grace Lee Boggs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/grace-lee-boggs/) > [ I'll smoke, I'll cough, I'll get the tumors, I'll die, deal? Thank you America. \[salutes\] ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-hicks/i-ll-smoke-i-ll-cough-i-ll-get-the-tumors-i-ll-die-deal-thank-you/) [Bill Hicks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-hicks/) > [America is a democracy and has no Hitler, but I am afraid for her future; there are hard times ahead for the American people,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/albert-einstein/america-is-a-democracy-and-has-no-hitler-but-i-am-afraid-for-her/) [Albert Einstein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/albert-einstein/) > [I'm gonna bring America together.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donald-trump/i-m-gonna-bring-america-together/) [Donald Trump](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/donald-trump/) > [In the nineteenth century some parts of the world were unexplored, but there was almost no restriction on travel.:; Up to 1914 you did…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-orwell/in-the-nineteenth-century-some-parts-of-the-world-were-unexplored-but/) [George Orwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-orwell/) > [We need a system that serves our needs, not the needs of others. 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