--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: It [9/11] transcended the political and…" description: "\"It [9/11] transcended the political and moved into the metaphysical. There was a kind of cosmic, demonic quality of mind at work here, which refused to..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5a3/edward-said-6412_bloody_it-9-11-transcended-the-political-and-mo_861231.jpg" --- # It \[9/11\] transcended the political and moved into the… ![“It [9/11] transcended the political and moved into the metaphysical. There was a kind of cosmic, demonic quality of mind at work here, which refused to have any interest in dialogue and political organization and persuasion. This was bloody-minded destruction for no other reason than to do it.” quote by Edward Said](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5a3/edward-said-6412_bloody_it-9-11-transcended-the-political-and-mo_861231.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5a3/edward-said-6412_bloody_it-9-11-transcended-the-political-and-mo_861231.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5a3/edward-said-6412_bloody_it-9-11-transcended-the-political-and-mo_861231.jpg) > “It \[9/11\] transcended the political and moved into the metaphysical. There was a kind of cosmic, demonic quality of mind at work here, which refused to have any interest in dialogue and political organization and persuasion. This was bloody-minded destruction for no other reason than to do it.” [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. 9/11 transcended politics, becoming a metaphysical force that rejected dialogue, leading to senseless destruction. **In simple terms:** 9/11 became a metaphysical force rejecting dialogue. Key Takeaway Recognize how trauma can bypass rational discourse. Themes trauma metaphysics dialogue breakdown Mood analytical somber Type philosophical political When to use this quote - conflict analysis - peacebuilding - media studies Key Concepts political theory psychology of violence Questions to Reflect On - How does trauma affect rational debate? - Can dialogue survive after such events? A Different Perspective May overgeneralize complex events. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Bloody](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/bloody/) [Cosmic](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/cosmic/) [Demonic](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/demonic/) [Destruction](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/destruction/) [Destruction Reason](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/destruction-reason-855744/) [Dialogue](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/dialogue/) [Interest](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/interest/) [Israel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/israel/) [Kind](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/kind/) [Metaphysical](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/metaphysical/) [Mind](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mind/) [Minded Destruction](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/minded-destruction-855745/) [Moved](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/moved/) [Moved Metaphysical](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/moved-metaphysical-855742/) [Organization](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/organization/) [Persuasion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/persuasion/) [Philosophy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/philosophy/) [Political](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/political/) [Politics](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/politics/) [Psychology](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/psychology/) [Quality](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/quality/) [Reason](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/reason/) [Transcended Political](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/transcended-political-855743/) ## Related quotes > [ It \[9/11 event\] transcended the political and moved into the metaphysical. There was a kind of cosmic, demonic quality of mind at work here,… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-said/it-9-11-event-transcended-the-political-and-moved-into-the/) [Edward Said](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-said/) > [ This \[9/11 event\] was bloody-minded destruction for no other reason than to do it. Note that there was no claim for these attacks. There… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-said/this-9-11-event-was-bloody-minded-destruction-for-no-other-reason/) [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/) > [ This \[terrorists attacks on 9/11\] was part of nothing. It was a leap into another realm - the realm of crazy abstractions and mythological… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-said/this-terrorists-attacks-on-9-11-was-part-of-nothing-it-was-a-leap/) [Edward Said](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-said/) > [“Come on, Eden, don't be naive. Demonic children are a dime a dozen in Netherworld. Need I mention Children of the Corn? Damien? Justine…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michelle-rowen/come-on-eden-don-t-be-naive-demonic-children-are-a-dime-a-dozen-in/) [Michelle Rowen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michelle-rowen/) > [I have in this War a burning private grudge—which would probably make me a better soldier at 49 than I was at 22: against…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/i-have-in-this-war-a-burning-private-grudge-which-would-probably-make/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [ I would say that Edgar Allan Poe, \[Georges\] Perec, Thomas Pynchon, and \[Jorge Luis\] Borges are all boy-writers. These are writers who take... a… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-auster/i-would-say-that-edgar-allan-poe-georges-perec-thomas-pynchon-and/) [Paul Auster](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-auster/) > [Society is now really ruled by its own logos; say rather by a whole pantheon of its own hypostases and powers... we are beginning…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karl-barth/society-is-now-really-ruled-by-its-own-logos-say-rather-by-a-whole/) [Karl Barth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karl-barth/) > [“each time he opened his eyes, beams of feverish, demonic pain shot through his brain.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-green/each-time-he-opened-his-eyes-beams-of-feverish-demonic-pain-shot/) [John Green](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-green/) > [I had a constant fascination with the darkside. It is another world, bordering on insanity, and demonic possession, or what I thought was my…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/glenn-hughes/i-had-a-constant-fascination-with-the-darkside-it-is-another-world/) [Glenn Hughes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/glenn-hughes/) > [I was...a journalist...though my typical beat was freelancing articles on Canadian politics, which never included any mention of demonic phenomena, though it might explain…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kelley-armstrong/i-was-a-journalist-though-my-typical-beat-was-freelancing-articles-on/) [Kelley Armstrong](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kelley-armstrong/) > [They say Im demonic in humor in the sense that I think people need somebody to wake up their mental processes.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kenneth-williams/they-say-im-demonic-in-humor-in-the-sense-that-i-think-people-need/) [Kenneth Williams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kenneth-williams/) > [Any analysis of 'sin' or 'evil' or 'demonic influence' or 'negative thinking' or 'systemic evil' or 'antisocial behavior' that fails to see the lack…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-h-schuller/any-analysis-of-sin-or-evil-or-demonic-influence-or-negative-thinking/) [Robert H. Schuller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-h-schuller/) > [You call it demonic because you hear screaming, I call it life saving because I hear the meaning.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mitch-lucker/you-call-it-demonic-because-you-hear-screaming-i-call-it-life-saving/) [Mitch Lucker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mitch-lucker/) > [ We have no clear ideas of the agency of \[demonic\] spirits, nor is it necessary. The Scripture says little to satisfy our curiosity; but… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-newton/we-have-no-clear-ideas-of-the-agency-of-demonic-spirits-nor-is-it/) [John Newton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-newton/) ## 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. What I do know, however, is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-said/i-have-never-known-what-is-arabic-or-english-or-which-one-was-really/) [Edward Said](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-said/) > [Every single empire in its official discourse has said that it is not like all the others, that its circumstances are special, that it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-said/every-single-empire-in-its-official-discourse-has-said-that-it-is-not/) [Edward Said](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-said/) > [ The just response to this terrible event \[9/11\] should be to go immediately to the world community, the United Nations. 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 Bloody quotes > [Success doesn't have a downside for me. I'm busy, but I've always been busy whatever job I've had. My very first job working in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/victoria-derbyshire/success-doesn-t-have-a-downside-for-me-i-m-busy-but-i-ve-always-been/) [Victoria Derbyshire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/victoria-derbyshire/) > [AHHHHHH! Goyle has set the bloody place on fire! -Ron Weasley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/ahhhhhh-goyle-has-set-the-bloody-place-on-fire-ron-weasley/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [My style icon is anyone who makes a bloody effort](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isabella-blow/my-style-icon-is-anyone-who-makes-a-bloody-effort/) [Isabella Blow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isabella-blow/) > [If you're going to do something that looks evil, don't smear it with icing and pretend it's good; just bloody well do it and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robertson-davies/if-you-re-going-to-do-something-that-looks-evil-don-t-smear-it-with/) [Robertson Davies](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robertson-davies/) > [Every sensible man, every honorable man, must hold the Christian sect in horror." "Christianity is the most ridiculous, the most absurd and bloody religion…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/voltaire/every-sensible-man-every-honorable-man-must-hold-the-christian-sect/) [Voltaire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/voltaire/) > [The problem was Le Corbusier was a genius and an enormous artist, but he tried to resolve problems to which there is no solution.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leon-krier/the-problem-was-le-corbusier-was-a-genius-and-an-enormous-artist-but/) [Leon Krier](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leon-krier/) > [Sound trumpets! Let our bloody colours wave! And either victory, or else a grave.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-shakespeare/sound-trumpets-let-our-bloody-colours-wave-and-either-victory-or-else/) [William Shakespeare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-shakespeare/) > [I was at Mount Tamalpais near San Francisco hiking when a boulder came hurling down the mountainside and smashed my left hand. When I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pablo-casals/i-was-at-mount-tamalpais-near-san-francisco-hiking-when-a-boulder/) [Pablo Casals](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pablo-casals/) > [Women are all the bloody sameyou can't love for five minutes without wanting it abolished in brats and house bloody wifery.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-beckett/women-are-all-the-bloody-sameyou-can-t-love-for-five-minutes-without/) [Samuel Beckett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-beckett/) > [Mass ought to be in Latin, unless you could do it in Greek or Chinese. In fact, any abracadabra that no bloody member of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ezra-pound/mass-ought-to-be-in-latin-unless-you-could-do-it-in-greek-or-chinese/) [Ezra Pound](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ezra-pound/) > [“The heart is a bloody thing. ”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/toby-barlow/the-heart-is-a-bloody-thing/) [Toby Barlow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/toby-barlow/) > [I'd have opened a bloody library if I'd wanted to be quiet.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anita-roddick/i-d-have-opened-a-bloody-library-if-i-d-wanted-to-be-quiet/) [Anita Roddick](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anita-roddick/) > [The proud spirit of the original owners of these vast prairies inherited through centuries of fierce and bloody wars for their possession, lingered last…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/l-frank-baum/the-proud-spirit-of-the-original-owners-of-these-vast-prairies/) [L. Frank Baum](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/l-frank-baum/) > [If man had his way, the plan of redemption would be an endless and bloody conflict. In reality, salvation was bought not by Jesus…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/if-man-had-his-way-the-plan-of-redemption-would-be-an-endless-and/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [ \[9/11\] 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/) [Browse all 865 Bloody quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/bloody/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "It [9/11] transcended the political and moved into the metaphysical. 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