--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: In the first half of the 20th Century, we…" description: "\"In the first half of the 20th Century, we lived through human disasters on a scale unimaginable. The Holocaust was once suggested would be the end of n..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/399/ian-mcewan-494_20th-century_in-the-first-half-of-the-20th-century-we_3200786.png" --- # In the first half of the 20th Century, we lived through… ![“In the first half of the 20th Century, we lived through human disasters on a scale unimaginable. The Holocaust was once suggested would be the end of not only civilization, but art, too.” quote by Ian Mcewan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/399/ian-mcewan-494_20th-century_in-the-first-half-of-the-20th-century-we_3200786.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/399/ian-mcewan-494_20th-century_in-the-first-half-of-the-20th-century-we_3200786.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/399/ian-mcewan-494_20th-century_in-the-first-half-of-the-20th-century-we_3200786.png) > “In the first half of the 20th Century, we lived through human disasters on a scale unimaginable. The Holocaust was once suggested would be the end of not only civilization, but art, too.” [Ian Mcewan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ian-mcewan/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The Holocaust threatened both civilization and artistic expression, showing how extreme crises can end culture. **In simple terms:** Catastrophe can erase art and humanity. Key Takeaway Preserve culture against destruction. Themes memory art humanity Mood somber hopeful Type philosophical reflective When to use this quote - museum curation - education curricula - policy advocacy - community healing Key Concepts genocide cultural loss ethics Questions to Reflect On - What can we do to protect cultural heritage? - How does remembering history shape future art? A Different Perspective Even after trauma, art can survive and rebuild. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [20th century](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/20th-century/) [Art](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/art/) [Century](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/century/) [Civilization](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/civilization/) [Civilization Art](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/civilization-art-1327438/) [Disaster](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/disaster/) [Ends](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ends/) [Firsts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/firsts/) [Half](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/half/) [Holocaust](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/holocaust/) [Holocaust Suggested](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/holocaust-suggested-970207/) [Human Disasters](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/human-disasters-481757/) [Humans](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/humans/) [Israel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/israel/) [Nature of man](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/nature-of-man/) [Scales](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/scales/) [Unimaginable](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/unimaginable/) [Unimaginable Holocaust](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/unimaginable-holocaust-5941359/) [Would be](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/would-be/) ## Related quotes > [I share Alfred Nobel's conviction that war is the greatest of all human disasters. Infectious disease runs a good second.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-c-doherty/i-share-alfred-nobel-s-conviction-that-war-is-the-greatest-of-all/) [Peter C. Doherty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-c-doherty/) > [“the Holocaust suggested to many that reason is the most monstrous of all of man’s faculties.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/evan-sayet/the-holocaust-suggested-to-many-that-reason-is-the-most-monstrous-of/) [Evan Sayet](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/evan-sayet/) > [As long as art is the beauty parlor of civilization, neither art nor civilization is secure.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-dewey/as-long-as-art-is-the-beauty-parlor-of-civilization-neither-art-nor/) [John Dewey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-dewey/) > [The culture of a civilization is the art and literature through which it rises to consciousness of itself and defines its vision of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roger-scruton/the-culture-of-a-civilization-is-the-art-and-literature-through-which/) [Roger Scruton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roger-scruton/) > [“Nudity is an art. Besides, art is only nudity... There’s no more art, only too much civilization. Art is barbarious... Art is loneliness... Nothingness…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/raul-ruiz/nudity-is-an-art-besides-art-is-only-nudity-there-s-no-more-art-only/) [Raúl Ruiz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/raul-ruiz/) > [One might say that science itself, and civilization and art, are all about different orderings of the world - to contain it, and to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oliver-sacks/one-might-say-that-science-itself-and-civilization-and-art-are-all/) [Oliver Sacks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oliver-sacks/) > [Civilization is the art of living together with people not entirely like oneself.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/helen-cam/civilization-is-the-art-of-living-together-with-people-not-entirely/) [Helen Cam](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/helen-cam/) > [Civilization is the art of creating useless needs.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leo-errera/civilization-is-the-art-of-creating-useless-needs/) [Leo Errera](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leo-errera/) > [Civilization is the art of living in towns of such size the everyone does not know everyone else.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julian-jaynes/civilization-is-the-art-of-living-in-towns-of-such-size-the-everyone/) [Julian Jaynes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julian-jaynes/) > [Earlier this week ... scientists announced the completion of a task that once seemed unimaginable; and that is, the deciphering of the entire DNA…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-kennedy/earlier-this-week-scientists-announced-the-completion-of-a-task-that/) [Edward Kennedy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-kennedy/) > [O thou beautiful And unimaginable ether! and Ye multiplying masses of increased And still increasing lights! what are ye? what Is this blue wilderness…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lord-byron/o-thou-beautiful-and-unimaginable-ether-and-ye-multiplying-masses-of/) [Lord Byron](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lord-byron/) > [Most of us do more than subsist. From the vantage point of our ancestors, we live lives of almost unimaginable ease. Here again, we…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gary-hamel/most-of-us-do-more-than-subsist-from-the-vantage-point-of-our/) [Gary Hamel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gary-hamel/) > [The grave and the image are equally links with the irrecoverable and symbols for the unimaginable.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/the-grave-and-the-image-are-equally-links-with-the-irrecoverable-and/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [There is a certain aesthetic pleasure in trying to imagine the unimaginable and failing, if you are a reader.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/a-s-byatt-2/there-is-a-certain-aesthetic-pleasure-in-trying-to-imagine-the/) [A. S. Byatt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/a-s-byatt-2/) > [That is the real problem of depression - a condition which will affect an estimated one in five of the population at some point…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/giles-andreae/that-is-the-real-problem-of-depression-a-condition-which-will-affect/) [Giles Andreae](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/giles-andreae/) ## More by Ian Mcewan > [“As you will see, we do not believe that artists have an obligation to strike up attitudes to the war. Indeed, they are wise…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ian-mcewan/as-you-will-see-we-do-not-believe-that-artists-have-an-obligation-to/) [Ian McEwan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ian-mcewan/) > [You could say that all novels are spy novels and all novelists are spy masters.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ian-mcewan/you-could-say-that-all-novels-are-spy-novels-and-all-novelists-are/) [Ian Mcewan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ian-mcewan/) > [I've never had a moment's doubt. I love you. I believe in you completely. You are my dearest one. My reason for life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ian-mcewan/i-ve-never-had-a-moment-s-doubt-i-love-you-i-believe-in-you/) [Ian Mcewan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ian-mcewan/) > [“It is shaming sometimes, how the body will not, or cannot, lie about emotions.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ian-mcewan/it-is-shaming-sometimes-how-the-body-will-not-or-cannot-lie-about/) [Ian McEwan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ian-mcewan/) > [“While my friends struggled and calculated, I reached a solution by a set of floating steps that were partly visual, partly just a feeling…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ian-mcewan/while-my-friends-struggled-and-calculated-i-reached-a-solution-by-a/) [Ian McEwan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ian-mcewan/) > [“Once, on a walk by a river- Eskdale in low reddish sunlight, with a dusting of snow- his daughter quoted to him an opening…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ian-mcewan/once-on-a-walk-by-a-river-eskdale-in-low-reddish-sunlight-with-a/) [Ian McEwan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ian-mcewan/) > [“Perhaps it's one of those cases of a microcosm giving you the whole world. Like a spode dinner plate. Or a single cell. Or,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ian-mcewan/perhaps-it-s-one-of-those-cases-of-a-microcosm-giving-you-the-whole/) [Ian McEwan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ian-mcewan/) > [Who you get, and how it works out- there's so much luck involved, as well as the million branching consequences of your conscious choice…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ian-mcewan/who-you-get-and-how-it-works-out-there-s-so-much-luck-involved-as/) [Ian Mcewan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ian-mcewan/) > [“On Chesil Beach he could have called out to Florence, he could have gone after her. He did not know, or would not have…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ian-mcewan/on-chesil-beach-he-could-have-called-out-to-florence-he-could-have/) [Ian McEwan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ian-mcewan/) > [It was always the view of my parents...that hot weather encouraged loose morals among young people.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ian-mcewan/it-was-always-the-view-of-my-parents-that-hot-weather-encouraged/) [Ian Mcewan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ian-mcewan/) > [I apologize for being obvious, but every time I watch the curtain come down on even a halfway decent production of a Shakespeare play…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ian-mcewan/i-apologize-for-being-obvious-but-every-time-i-watch-the-curtain-come/) [Ian Mcewan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ian-mcewan/) > [I would rather be physically disabled obviously than mentally. I would rather be paraplegic than nuts. And it is a terrifying prospect and actually…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ian-mcewan/i-would-rather-be-physically-disabled-obviously-than-mentally-i-would/) [Ian Mcewan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ian-mcewan/) > [“Words, as I'm beginning to appreciate, can make things true.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ian-mcewan/words-as-i-m-beginning-to-appreciate-can-make-things-true/) [Ian McEwan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ian-mcewan/) > [I couldn't think about novels at all. It seemed the only writing that was appropriate to that horrendous event was journalism, reportage. And, in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ian-mcewan/i-couldn-t-think-about-novels-at-all-it-seemed-the-only-writing-that/) [Ian Mcewan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ian-mcewan/) > [I did not kill my father, but I sometimes felt I had helped him on his way. And but for the fact that it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ian-mcewan/i-did-not-kill-my-father-but-i-sometimes-felt-i-had-helped-him-on-his/) [Ian Mcewan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ian-mcewan/) [Explore all 496 Ian Mcewan quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ian-mcewan/) ## More 20th century quotes > [I think the inhabitants of the past are fighting hard to keep the rents they acquired in the 20th century.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-bennet/i-think-the-inhabitants-of-the-past-are-fighting-hard-to-keep-the/) [Michael Bennet](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-bennet/) > [Corporate America is a 20th-century dinosaur, trembling on the edge of extinction, and the only way for you to have a genuinely secure future…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-kiyosaki/corporate-america-is-a-20th-century-dinosaur-trembling-on-the-edge-of/) [Robert Kiyosaki](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-kiyosaki/) > [America thrived in the 20th century because we made high school free. We sent a generation to college. We cultivated the most educated workforce…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barack-obama/america-thrived-in-the-20th-century-because-we-made-high-school-free/) [Barack Obama](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barack-obama/) > [The 20th century has been marked by cynicism, selfishness, greed, and the desire to please, all without changing the status quo. In the 21st…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/scar-arias/the-20th-century-has-been-marked-by-cynicism-selfishness-greed-and/) [Óscar Arias](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/scar-arias/) > [I've studied the lives of the 20th century's great businessmen and concluded self-confidence was instrumental in all their success.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alex-spanos/i-ve-studied-the-lives-of-the-20th-century-s-great-businessmen-and/) [Alex Spanos](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alex-spanos/) > [Universal literacy was a 20th-century goal. Before then, reading and writing were skills largely confined to a small, highly educated class of professional people.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hugh-mackay/universal-literacy-was-a-20th-century-goal-before-then-reading-and/) [Hugh Mackay](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hugh-mackay/) > [The great wars of the 20th Century made it into the worst Century ever.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-ambrose/the-great-wars-of-the-20th-century-made-it-into-the-worst-century-ever/) [Stephen Ambrose](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-ambrose/) > [That is very different from how it used to be in the 20th century. Media was very one way. There's a small little industry.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-gordon-levitt/that-is-very-different-from-how-it-used-to-be-in-the-20th-century/) [Joseph Gordon-Levitt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-gordon-levitt/) > [If you look back on the history of the 20th century, the 19th century or even to the ancien régime of the 18th, you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/zygmunt-bauman/if-you-look-back-on-the-history-of-the-20th-century-the-19th-century/) [Zygmunt Bauman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/zygmunt-bauman/) > [Up to the 20th century, we can say that this whole period was an Earth epoch, 'Earth' meaning the riches of the earth, simple…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lech-walesa/up-to-the-20th-century-we-can-say-that-this-whole-period-was-an-earth/) [Lech Walesa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lech-walesa/) > [I think this century more than any other really has seen the phenomenon of people being uprooted in such numbers, such a degree. They…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elie-wiesel/i-think-this-century-more-than-any-other-really-has-seen-the/) [Elie Wiesel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elie-wiesel/) > [If you look at that incredible burst of fantastic characters that emerged in the late 19th century/early 20th century, you can see so many…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-moore/if-you-look-at-that-incredible-burst-of-fantastic-characters-that/) [Alan Moore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-moore/) > [Cruel and paradoxical though it undoubtedly is, the record shows that yje most succesful 20th century monarchs have been those who were not actually…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-cannadine/cruel-and-paradoxical-though-it-undoubtedly-is-the-record-shows-that/) [David Cannadine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-cannadine/) > [An interesting thing about New Zealand, you know, literature is that it really didn't begin in any real sense until the 20th century.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eleanor-catton/an-interesting-thing-about-new-zealand-you-know-literature-is-that-it/) [Eleanor Catton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eleanor-catton/) > [The Warmth of Other Suns is a sweeping and yet deeply personal tale of America's hidden 20th century history - the long and difficult…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-brokaw/the-warmth-of-other-suns-is-a-sweeping-and-yet-deeply-personal-tale/) [Tom Brokaw](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-brokaw/) [Browse all 672 20th century quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/20th-century/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "In the first half of the 20th Century, we lived through human disasters on a scale unimaginable. 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