--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: And what terrifies me is that we're…" description: "\"And what terrifies me is that we're entering a phase where if you start to speak about this as something that can be understood historically - without ..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/bfe/edward-said-6412_citizens_and-what-terrifies-me-is-that-we-re-ente_268694.jpg" --- # And what terrifies me is that we're entering a phase where… ![“And what terrifies me is that we're entering a phase where if you start to speak about this as something that can be understood historically - without any sympathy - you are going to be thought of as unpatriotic, and you are going to be forbidden. It's very dangerous. It is precisely incumbent on…” quote by Edward Said](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/bfe/edward-said-6412_citizens_and-what-terrifies-me-is-that-we-re-ente_268694.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/bfe/edward-said-6412_citizens_and-what-terrifies-me-is-that-we-re-ente_268694.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/bfe/edward-said-6412_citizens_and-what-terrifies-me-is-that-we-re-ente_268694.jpg) > “And what terrifies me is that we're entering a phase where if you start to speak about this as something that can be understood historically - without any sympathy - you are going to be thought of as unpatriotic, and you are going to be forbidden. It's very dangerous. It is precisely incumbent on every citizen to quite understand the world we're living in and the history we are a part of and we are forming as a superpower.” [Edward Said](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-said/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. A warning that historical analysis can be censored as unpatriotic, urging citizens to understand their nation's past and present. **In simple terms:** Studying history may be labeled unpatriotic, but it's essential. Key Takeaway Seek knowledge despite political pressure. Themes history patriotism censorship citizenship Mood serious urgent Type political educational When to use this quote - academic discourse - public debate - media coverage - policy making Key Concepts national narrative critical thinking political risk Questions to Reflect On - How can we balance patriotism with critical history? - What safeguards protect academic freedom? A Different Perspective The claim may generalize all dissent as unpatriotic. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [History](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/history/) [Superpower](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/superpower/) [World](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/world/) ## Related quotes > [If you look at my history, my history is that of forming bands rather than joining them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-rodgers/if-you-look-at-my-history-my-history-is-that-of-forming-bands-rather/) [Paul Rodgers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-rodgers/) > [What is quite worrisome is the absence of analysis and reflection. Take the word "terrorism." It has become synonymous now with anti-Americanism, which, in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-said/what-is-quite-worrisome-is-the-absence-of-analysis-and-reflection/) [Edward Said](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-said/) > [Patriotism means to stand by the country. 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The old lady sighed. "An office romance. I always wanted an office romance. Of course I never really had a job, which…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-mallery/how-lovely-the-old-lady-sighed-an-office-romance-i-always-wanted-an/) [Susan Mallery](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-mallery/) > [The quandary of many liberals in America and elsewhere is that they have largely outgrown patriotism but are afraid to face this fact. They…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fm-2030/the-quandary-of-many-liberals-in-america-and-elsewhere-is-that-they/) FM-2030 > [The suspicion that immigrants are not to be trusted or are unpatriotic is not just wrong; it is un-American. 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This idea has created cowboys and Indians, good guys…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-a-baldwin/the-american-ideal-of-sexuality-appears-to-be-rooted-in-the-american/) [James A. Baldwin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-a-baldwin/) > [It must never be unpatriotic to support your country against your government. It must always be unpatriotic to support your government against your country.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steven-t-byington/it-must-never-be-unpatriotic-to-support-your-country-against-your/) Steven T. Byington > [The Patriot Act is certainly a concern; all of those things are dangerous. I think more important than me preaching is that we as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-clooney/the-patriot-act-is-certainly-a-concern-all-of-those-things-are/) [George Clooney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-clooney/) ## More by Edward Said > [Beginning is not only a kind of action. It is also a frame of mind, a kind of work, an attitude, a consciousness.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-said/beginning-is-not-only-a-kind-of-action-it-is-also-a-frame-of-mind-a/) [Edward Said](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-said/) > [It's very hard, for example, to justify the thirty-four-year occupation of the West Bank and Gaza. It's very hard to justify 140 Israeli settlements…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-said/it-s-very-hard-for-example-to-justify-the-thirty-four-year-occupation/) [Edward Said](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-said/) > [ \[9/11\] was bloody-minded destruction for no other reason than to do it. ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-said/9-11-was-bloody-minded-destruction-for-no-other-reason-than-to-do-it/) [Edward Said](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-said/) > [Look at situations as contingent, not as inevitable, look at them as the result of a series of historical choices made by men and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-said/look-at-situations-as-contingent-not-as-inevitable-look-at-them-as/) [Edward Said](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-said/) > [I was one of the first people in the Palestinian world, in the late 1970s, to say that there is no military option, either…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-said/i-was-one-of-the-first-people-in-the-palestinian-world-in-the-late/) [Edward Said](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-said/) > [Take a young man from Gaza living in the most horrendous conditions - most of it imposed by Israel - who straps dynamite around…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-said/take-a-young-man-from-gaza-living-in-the-most-horrendous-conditions/) [Edward Said](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-said/) > [ \[One task of intellectuals is\] to break down the stereotypes and reductive categories that are . . . limiting to human thought and communication. ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-said/one-task-of-intellectuals-is-to-break-down-the-stereotypes-and/) [Edward Said](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-said/) > [I have never known what is Arabic or English, or which one was really mine beyond any doubt. 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The rule of international… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-said/the-just-response-to-this-terrible-event-9-11-should-be-to-go/) [Edward Said](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-said/) > [Since when does a militarily occupied people have the responsibility for a peace movement?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-said/since-when-does-a-militarily-occupied-people-have-the-responsibility/) [Edward Said](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-said/) > [Refuse to allow yourself to become a vegetable that simply absorbs information, pre-packaged, pre-ideologized , because no message.. is anything but an ideological package…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-said/refuse-to-allow-yourself-to-become-a-vegetable-that-simply-absorbs/) [Edward Said](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-said/) > [No cause, no God, no abstract idea can justify the mass slaughter of innocents.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-said/no-cause-no-god-no-abstract-idea-can-justify-the-mass-slaughter-of/) [Edward Said](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-said/) > [What we must eliminate are systems of representation that carry with them the authority which has become repressive because it doesn't permit or make…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-said/what-we-must-eliminate-are-systems-of-representation-that-carry-with/) [Edward Said](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-said/) > [Part of the main plan of imperialism... is that we will give you your history, we will write it for you, we will re-order…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-said/part-of-the-main-plan-of-imperialism-is-that-we-will-give-you-your/) [Edward Said](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-said/) [Explore all 97 Edward Said quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-said/) ## More Citizens quotes > [Politics is not an issue whether you like or dislike , but every citizen must involve.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/khem-veasna/politics-is-not-an-issue-whether-you-like-or-dislike-but-every/) [Khem Veasna](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/khem-veasna/) > [I will be a model prisoner, as I have been a model citizen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edwin-edwards/i-will-be-a-model-prisoner-as-i-have-been-a-model-citizen/) [Edwin Edwards](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edwin-edwards/) > [The language we share is at the core of our identity as citizens, and our ticket to full participation in American political life. 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