--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Speaking as a New Yorker, I found…" description: "\"Speaking as a New Yorker, I found [September 11] a shocking and terrifying event, particularly the scale of it.\" — Edward Said" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/320/edward-said-6412_events_speaking-as-a-new-yorker-i-found-septemb_2917817.jpg" --- # Speaking as a New Yorker, I found \[September 11\] a… ![“Speaking as a New Yorker, I found [September 11] a shocking and terrifying event, particularly the scale of it.” quote by Edward Said](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/320/edward-said-6412_events_speaking-as-a-new-yorker-i-found-septemb_2917817.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/320/edward-said-6412_events_speaking-as-a-new-yorker-i-found-septemb_2917817.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/320/edward-said-6412_events_speaking-as-a-new-yorker-i-found-septemb_2917817.jpg) > “Speaking as a New Yorker, I found \[September 11\] a shocking and terrifying event, particularly the scale of 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. The event was shocking and terrifying due to its massive scale and impact on humanity. **In simple terms:** A huge tragedy caused fear and awe. Key Takeaway Recognize and process collective trauma. Themes trauma scale humanity Mood somber reflective Type observational analytical When to use this quote - media coverage - public memorials - education about terrorism Key Concepts psychology collective memory Questions to Reflect On - How does scale affect emotional response? - What can we learn from collective shock? A Different Perspective Personal recollection may be limited by individual perspective. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [11 Shocking](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/11-shocking-4235207/) [Events](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/events/) [Found](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/found/) [Israel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/israel/) [New yorkers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/new-yorkers/) [Scales](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/scales/) [September](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/september/) [September 11](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/september-11/) [Shocking](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/shocking/) [Shocking Terrifying](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/shocking-terrifying-1979707/) [Terrifying](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/terrifying/) [Terrifying Event](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/terrifying-event-1979705/) ## Related quotes > [ Speaking as a New Yorker, I found it (9/11 event\] a shocking and terrifying event, particularly the scale of it. At bottom, it was… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-said/speaking-as-a-new-yorker-i-found-it-9-11-event-a-shocking-and/) [Edward Said](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-said/) > [ Speaking as a New Yorker, I found it a shocking and terrifying event \[9/11\], particularly the scale of it. At bottom, it was an… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-said/speaking-as-a-new-yorker-i-found-it-a-shocking-and-terrifying-event-9/) [Edward Said](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-said/) > [As wild as I was, when the cops show up, and suddenly you're being handcuffed, it's so deeply shocking and terrifying, the loss of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/natasha-lyonne/as-wild-as-i-was-when-the-cops-show-up-and-suddenly-you-re-being/) [Natasha Lyonne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/natasha-lyonne/) > [“Trauma is any terrifying event that instantly changes the world as we know it, leaving us helpless and emotionally overwhelmed.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sue-johnson/trauma-is-any-terrifying-event-that-instantly-changes-the-world-as-we/) [Sue Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sue-johnson/) > [“I think this country has been a bit tossed by the waves in recent weeks. Watching in the way our media allows us, up…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/historica-press/i-think-this-country-has-been-a-bit-tossed-by-the-waves-in-recent/) [Historica Press](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/historica-press/) > [I am one of the 11.5% of New Yorkers who remain traumatized by the events of September 11.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lanford-wilson/i-am-one-of-the-11-5-of-new-yorkers-who-remain-traumatized-by-the/) [Lanford Wilson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lanford-wilson/) > [When I first arrived (in New York), it seemed to me the most terrifying city in the world... all those big buildings. I remember…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/benny-goodman/when-i-first-arrived-in-new-york-it-seemed-to-me-the-most-terrifying/) [Benny Goodman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/benny-goodman/) > [ My chronology is terrible. \[Work with William Shawn\] must have some ago. It was after he was fired by Newhouse. 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What do I have to sell…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sharon-zukin/every-new-yorker-spends-a-certain-amount-of-nervous-energy-thinking/) [Sharon Zukin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sharon-zukin/) > [As most New Yorkers have done, I have given serious and generous thought to the state of my apartment should I get killed during…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sloane-crosley/as-most-new-yorkers-have-done-i-have-given-serious-and-generous/) [Sloane Crosley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sloane-crosley/) ## 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. 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