--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Yes, I remember the barbed wire and the…" description: "\"Yes, I remember the barbed wire and the guard towers and the machine guns, but they became part of my normal landscape. What would be abnormal in norma..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/02e/george-takei-4192_abnormal_yes-i-remember-the-barbed-wire-and-the-g_1464396.jpg" --- # Yes, I remember the barbed wire and the guard towers and… ![“Yes, I remember the barbed wire and the guard towers and the machine guns, but they became part of my normal landscape. What would be abnormal in normal times became my normality in camp.” quote by George Takei](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/02e/george-takei-4192_abnormal_yes-i-remember-the-barbed-wire-and-the-g_1464396.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/02e/george-takei-4192_abnormal_yes-i-remember-the-barbed-wire-and-the-g_1464396.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/02e/george-takei-4192_abnormal_yes-i-remember-the-barbed-wire-and-the-g_1464396.jpg) > “Yes, I remember the barbed wire and the guard towers and the machine guns, but they became part of my normal landscape. What would be abnormal in normal times became my normality in camp.” [George Takei](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-takei/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Normalcy is reshaped by trauma; what once seemed abnormal becomes routine in extreme conditions. **In simple terms:** Trauma normalizes the abnormal. Key Takeaway Recognize altered norms early. Themes war trauma normalization Mood reflective somber Type philosophical advice When to use this quote - refugee camps - military bases - post‑conflict societies Key Concepts psychology history Questions to Reflect On - How do you identify when “normal” is harmful? - What steps restore healthy baselines? A Different Perspective Normalization can mask ongoing harm. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Abnormal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/abnormal/) [Barbed wire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/barbed-wire/) [Camps](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/camps/) [Computers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/computers/) [Gun](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/gun/) [Guns Normal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/guns-normal-5298231/) [Landscape](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/landscape/) [Machine gun](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/machine-gun/) [Machine guns](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/machine-guns/) [Machines](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/machines/) [Normal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/normal/) [Normal Landscape](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/normal-landscape-5298233/) [Normality](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/normality/) [Normality Camp](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/normality-camp-5298232/) [Remember](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/remember/) [Remember Barbed](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/remember-barbed-5298230/) [Time](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/time/) [Towers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/towers/) [Wire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/wire/) [Would be](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/would-be/) ## Related quotes > [War is now a form of TV entertainment, and what made the First World War so particularly entertaining were two American inventions, barbed wire…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kurt-vonnegut/war-is-now-a-form-of-tv-entertainment-and-what-made-the-first-world/) [Kurt Vonnegut](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kurt-vonnegut/) > [I don't believe that in the name of the holiness of the city you have to put barbed wires, machine gun nests, mine pins…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yitzhak-rabin/i-don-t-believe-that-in-the-name-of-the-holiness-of-the-city-you-have/) [Yitzhak Rabin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yitzhak-rabin/) > [I spent my boyhood behind the barbed wire fences of American internment camps and that part of my life is something that I wanted…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-takei/i-spent-my-boyhood-behind-the-barbed-wire-fences-of-american/) [George Takei](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-takei/) > [WHEN YOU LEAVE YOUR TYPEWRITER YOU LEAVE YOUR MACHINE GUN AND THE RATS COME POURING THROUGH.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-bukowski/when-you-leave-your-typewriter-you-leave-your-machine-gun-and-the/) [Charles Bukowski](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-bukowski/) > [There was, like, a week straight of shooting, where, like, all I did was shoot a machine gun. 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