--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: I don't know what will happen in the…" description: "\"“I don't know what will happen in the future. Maybe my worries are unfounded, but lately I've been hearing talk that sounds like it has bubbled up from..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/764/hari-kunzru-12838_history_i-don-t-know-what-will-happen-in-the-fut_993943.jpg" --- # I don't know what will happen in the future. Maybe my… ![“I don't know what will happen in the future. Maybe my worries are unfounded, but lately I've been hearing talk that sounds like it has bubbled up from the history of a time before I was born, talk about people who belong and people who don't, about real people and the others, who ought to be…” quote by Hari Kunzru](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/764/hari-kunzru-12838_history_i-don-t-know-what-will-happen-in-the-fut_993943.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/764/hari-kunzru-12838_history_i-don-t-know-what-will-happen-in-the-fut_993943.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/764/hari-kunzru-12838_history_i-don-t-know-what-will-happen-in-the-fut_993943.jpg) > ““I don't know what will happen in the future. Maybe my worries are unfounded, but lately I've been hearing talk that sounds like it has bubbled up from the history of a time before I was born, talk about people who belong and people who don't, about real people and the others, who ought to be pushed out. The old word cosmopolitan has once again become a sly insult, along with a newer version, globalist. Migrant, which used to be a neutral word, is a term of abuse. We - you, me, your mother, your sister - are migrants. That is our history. Because of that history, because of who we (and our parents) chose to lose and where they chose to go, we are cosmopolitan. It's something I feel proud of, but for others, it seems to be an incitement, a rebuke.”” [Hari Kunzru](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hari-kunzru/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The passage critiques how terms like “cosmopolitan” and “globalist” have become pejoratives, while “migrant” is weaponized, urging recognition of shared migratory histories and pride in cosmopolitan identity. **In simple terms:** Labels once neutral become insults; we share migrant histories. Key Takeaway Recognize shared humanity, resist divisive labels. Themes identity politics migration Mood critical reflective Type essay political When to use this quote - public discourse - policy debates - personal reflection Key Concepts nationalism inclusion Questions to Reflect On - How can societies reclaim inclusive language? - What does being cosmopolitan mean to you? A Different Perspective Complex histories can be oversimplified, leading to backlash. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [History](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/history/) [Migrant](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/migrant/) [Talk About People](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/talk-about-people/) [Time](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/time/) ## Related quotes > [Sydney has such a cosmopolitan feel to it. The food is great and Australians are so friendly.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/denise-lewis/sydney-has-such-a-cosmopolitan-feel-to-it-the-food-is-great-and/) [Denise Lewis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/denise-lewis/) > [“So when people ask you where you're from, you won't have a one-word answer for them. Some people, the kind who use cosmopolitan and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hari-kunzru/so-when-people-ask-you-where-you-re-from-you-won-t-have-a-one-word/) [Hari Kunzru](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hari-kunzru/) > [Poverty and the rule of race that is called apartheid drive the Transkeian migrant from security on the land to work in the cities,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ruth-first/poverty-and-the-rule-of-race-that-is-called-apartheid-drive-the/) Ruth First > [“If I only go to school, come out and do migrant work for a few years, then go home, marry and have children," Min…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leslie-t-chang/if-i-only-go-to-school-come-out-and-do-migrant-work-for-a-few-years/) [Leslie T. Chang](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leslie-t-chang/) > [“He was already beginning to understand that what was wrong with his writing was that there was something wrong, something misconceived, about him. If…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/salman-rushdie/he-was-already-beginning-to-understand-that-what-was-wrong-with-his/) [Salman Rushdie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/salman-rushdie/) > [I'm a second-generation migrant. My parents came to this country from Pakistan, just like the Windrush generation.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sajid-javid/i-m-a-second-generation-migrant-my-parents-came-to-this-country-from/) [Sajid Javid](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sajid-javid/) > [ No movement calls \[migrant workers\] oppressed for providing money for women from whom they are receiving neither cooking nor cleaning; for providing their wives… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/warren-farrell/no-movement-calls-migrant-workers-oppressed-for-providing-money-for/) [Warren Farrell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/warren-farrell/) > [As soon as the harvest is in, you're a migrant worker. Afterwards just a bum.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nunnally-johnson/as-soon-as-the-harvest-is-in-you-re-a-migrant-worker-afterwards-just/) Nunnally Johnson > [The library (in the migrant community) I grew up in was my only link to the outside world.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/luis-valdez/the-library-in-the-migrant-community-i-grew-up-in-was-my-only-link-to/) [Luis Valdez](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/luis-valdez/) > [“Growing up with migrant workers, I knew that they usually worked harder than we did. Sometimes my dad and my uncles would hire a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeff-flake/growing-up-with-migrant-workers-i-knew-that-they-usually-worked/) [Jeff Flake](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeff-flake/) > [I have a very powerful sense of place, but I have a very powerful sense of being a migrant, so it's both. It seems…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/junot-diaz/i-have-a-very-powerful-sense-of-place-but-i-have-a-very-powerful/) [Junot Diaz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/junot-diaz/) > [“Arriving in the North, Martha became a migrant among immigrants, still a child, already twice removed from the ancestry she was taught to call…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adrienne-berard/arriving-in-the-north-martha-became-a-migrant-among-immigrants-still/) [Adrienne Berard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adrienne-berard/) > [The cars of the migrant people crawled out of the side roads onto the great cross-country highway, and they took the migrant way to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-steinbeck/the-cars-of-the-migrant-people-crawled-out-of-the-side-roads-onto-the/) [John Steinbeck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-steinbeck/) > [My message to everyone: the next time you hear about migrant children near the border, just picture them as your own. Then think what…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/al-sharpton/my-message-to-everyone-the-next-time-you-hear-about-migrant-children/) [Al Sharpton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/al-sharpton/) > [No migrant of any religion has a constitutional right to come to the United States.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-tancredo/no-migrant-of-any-religion-has-a-constitutional-right-to-come-to-the/) [Tom Tancredo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-tancredo/) ## More by Hari Kunzru > [In my early teens, science fiction and fantasy had an almost-total hold over my imagination. Their outcast status was part of their appeal.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hari-kunzru/in-my-early-teens-science-fiction-and-fantasy-had-an-almost-total/) [Hari Kunzru](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hari-kunzru/) > [Say there are three identical-looking pizza joints on a street. Two of those will always be empty. The third will have a line of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hari-kunzru/say-there-are-three-identical-looking-pizza-joints-on-a-street-two-of/) [Hari Kunzru](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hari-kunzru/) > [“I wanted to store the world and play it back just as I’d found it, without change or addition.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hari-kunzru/i-wanted-to-store-the-world-and-play-it-back-just-as-i-d-found-it/) [Hari Kunzru](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hari-kunzru/) > [“I've seen some very bad things this year, most of them when I was distracted. The world comes at me when I'm drinking coffee…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hari-kunzru/i-ve-seen-some-very-bad-things-this-year-most-of-them-when-i-was/) [Hari Kunzru](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hari-kunzru/) > [“People want to get back to the source. The old school. They want things they can touch.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hari-kunzru/people-want-to-get-back-to-the-source-the-old-school-they-want-things/) [Hari Kunzru](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hari-kunzru/) > [When I try to understand somebody, create a character, I fall into them. When I think writers are telling me what to think, I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hari-kunzru/when-i-try-to-understand-somebody-create-a-character-i-fall-into-them/) [Hari Kunzru](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hari-kunzru/) > [“Duhovna sloboda sveta direktno zavisi od politicke slobode Indije. Molimo Vas da stavite nesto sitinine u kasu. Posle tri cetvrti sata gubi svaku sigurnost,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hari-kunzru/duhovna-sloboda-sveta-direktno-zavisi-od-politicke-slobode-indije/) [Hari Kunzru](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hari-kunzru/) > [“You're too old to be saying to me, as you did recently, that you weren't 'interested in politics'. You're lucky that politics feels optional,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hari-kunzru/you-re-too-old-to-be-saying-to-me-as-you-did-recently-that-you-weren/) [Hari Kunzru](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hari-kunzru/) > [As I got older I became a kind of sub cultural junkie, foraging around in music, street fashion and eventually art, politics and the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hari-kunzru/as-i-got-older-i-became-a-kind-of-sub-cultural-junkie-foraging-around/) [Hari Kunzru](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hari-kunzru/) > [I suffer from vertigo. It's paralyzing in extreme situations. The most scared I've been as an adult was trying to conquer that fear by…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hari-kunzru/i-suffer-from-vertigo-it-s-paralyzing-in-extreme-situations-the-most/) [Hari Kunzru](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hari-kunzru/) > [“Ti uspešni ljudi, muškarci i žene, bili su obučeni u ansamble grafitnosive i tamnoplave boje, kao simbole pouzdanosti i poštenja. To vidno polje sačinjeno…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hari-kunzru/ti-uspe-ni-ljudi-mu-karci-i-ene-bili-su-obu-eni-u-ansamble/) [Hari Kunzru](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hari-kunzru/) > [“Driving was almost the only thing that felt natural in America. It was traditional. It was patriotic . When you accelerated, you could almost…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hari-kunzru/driving-was-almost-the-only-thing-that-felt-natural-in-america-it-was/) [Hari Kunzru](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hari-kunzru/) > [“What if one were to want to hunt for these hidden presences? You can’t just rummage around like you’re at a yard sale. You…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hari-kunzru/what-if-one-were-to-want-to-hunt-for-these-hidden-presences-you-can-t/) [Hari Kunzru](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hari-kunzru/) > [I think it's important for all culturally literate people to understand the technological substrate of new developments.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hari-kunzru/i-think-it-s-important-for-all-culturally-literate-people-to/) [Hari Kunzru](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hari-kunzru/) > [“We are a family whose roots are more like aerials. We pick up signals from the air around us - ideas, affinities, tastes, coordinates.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hari-kunzru/we-are-a-family-whose-roots-are-more-like-aerials-we-pick-up-signals/) [Hari Kunzru](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hari-kunzru/) [Explore all 53 Hari Kunzru quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hari-kunzru/) ## More Cosmopolitan quotes > [“I want to affirm that thinking and living, knowing and doing, theory and practice intersect.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/namsoon-kang/i-want-to-affirm-that-thinking-and-living-knowing-and-doing-theory/) [Namsoon Kang](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/namsoon-kang/) > [“Cosmopolitan theology affirms and radicalizes the belief that the Divine creates each and every human being as equal to every one else as a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/namsoon-kang/cosmopolitan-theology-affirms-and-radicalizes-the-belief-that-the/) [Namsoon Kang](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/namsoon-kang/) > [“I believe theology should be about one's way of life, a kind of gaze into onesself and others, and a mode of one's profound…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/namsoon-kang/i-believe-theology-should-be-about-one-s-way-of-life-a-kind-of-gaze/) [Namsoon Kang](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/namsoon-kang/) > [I love downtown Seattle. It's a city that has all of the outdoor activities and is still a very cosmopolitan city.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/greg-lemond/i-love-downtown-seattle-it-s-a-city-that-has-all-of-the-outdoor/) [Greg LeMond](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/greg-lemond/) > [For those who struggle with anti-pagan prejudices and stereotypes, Humanist Paganism might be a powerful educational tool. It can show that a pagan can…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brendan-myers/for-those-who-struggle-with-anti-pagan-prejudices-and-stereotypes/) [Brendan Myers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brendan-myers/) > [New York is at once cosmopolitan and parochial, a compendium of sentimental certainties. It is in fact the most sentimental of the world's great…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-gregory-dunne/new-york-is-at-once-cosmopolitan-and-parochial-a-compendium-of/) [John Gregory Dunne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-gregory-dunne/) > [My parents are very modern. My father is a cosmopolitan person. He always supported the fact that I will be an actress. There is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kareena-kapoor-khan/my-parents-are-very-modern-my-father-is-a-cosmopolitan-person-he/) [Kareena Kapoor Khan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kareena-kapoor-khan/) > [All good men are international. Nearly all bad men are cosmopolitan. If we are to be international we must be national.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gilbert-k-chesterton/all-good-men-are-international-nearly-all-bad-men-are-cosmopolitan-if/) [Gilbert K. Chesterton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gilbert-k-chesterton/) > [I wanted a literate, socially intricate, and cosmopolitan world - something I could have fun destroying.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/r-scott-bakker/i-wanted-a-literate-socially-intricate-and-cosmopolitan-world/) [R. Scott Bakker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/r-scott-bakker/) > [“the overall theme of theology can be twofold: the search for meaning and the responsibility one has to the others.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/namsoon-kang/the-overall-theme-of-theology-can-be-twofold-the-search-for-meaning/) [Namsoon Kang](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/namsoon-kang/) > [“What could be more fundamental to our sense of meaning and purpose than a conception of whether the strivings of the human race over…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steven-pinker/what-could-be-more-fundamental-to-our-sense-of-meaning-and-purpose/) [Steven Pinker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steven-pinker/) > [“Who are theologians? What kind of self-identity could or should a theologian claim? Should a theologian be a defender or transmitter of Christian \_tradition\_?…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/namsoon-kang/who-are-theologians-what-kind-of-self-identity-could-or-should-a/) [Namsoon Kang](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/namsoon-kang/) > [I go for cosmopolitan cities, and I like to be in the middle of everything.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-urie/i-go-for-cosmopolitan-cities-and-i-like-to-be-in-the-middle-of/) [Michael Urie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-urie/) > [“Roosevelt loved the subtleties of human relations...He was sensitive to nuances in a way that Harry Truman never was and never would be. Truman,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-mccullough/roosevelt-loved-the-subtleties-of-human-relations-he-was-sensitive-to/) [David McCullough](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-mccullough/) > [I come from rather an international, or in other words, a cosmopolitan background.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-blake/i-come-from-rather-an-international-or-in-other-words-a-cosmopolitan/) [George Blake](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-blake/) Browse all 110 Cosmopolitan quotes ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“I don't know what will happen in the future. Maybe my worries are unfounded, but lately I've been hearing talk that sounds like it has bubbled up from the history of a time before I was born, talk about people who belong and people who don't, about real people and the others, who ought to be pushed out. The old word cosmopolitan has once again become a sly insult, along with a newer version, globalist. Migrant, which used to be a neutral word, is a term of abuse. We - you, me, your mother, your sister - are migrants. That is our history. Because of that history, because of who we (and our parents) chose to lose and where they chose to go, we are cosmopolitan. 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