--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: The nineteenth and twentieth centuries…" description: "\"The nineteenth and twentieth centuries have given us as much terror as we can take. We have paid a high enough price for the nostalgia of the whole and..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e64/jean-francois-lyotard-24555_activate_the-nineteenth-and-twentieth-centuries-h_2760145.jpg" --- # The nineteenth and twentieth centuries have given us as… ![“The nineteenth and twentieth centuries have given us as much terror as we can take. We have paid a high enough price for the nostalgia of the whole and the one, for the reconciliation of the concept and the sensible, of the transparent and the communicable experience. Under the general demand for…” quote by Jean-Francois Lyotard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e64/jean-francois-lyotard-24555_activate_the-nineteenth-and-twentieth-centuries-h_2760145.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e64/jean-francois-lyotard-24555_activate_the-nineteenth-and-twentieth-centuries-h_2760145.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e64/jean-francois-lyotard-24555_activate_the-nineteenth-and-twentieth-centuries-h_2760145.jpg) > “The nineteenth and twentieth centuries have given us as much terror as we can take. We have paid a high enough price for the nostalgia of the whole and the one, for the reconciliation of the concept and the sensible, of the transparent and the communicable experience. Under the general demand for slackening and for appeasement, we can hear the mutterings of the desire for a return of terror, for the realization of the fantasy to seize reality. The answer is: Let us wage a war on totality; let us be witnesses to the unpresentable; let us activate the differences.” [Jean-Francois Lyotard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-francois-lyotard/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Calls for confronting totalizing narratives, embracing difference, and witnessing the unpresentable. **In simple terms:** Challenge absolute truths, value diversity. Key Takeaway Resist totalizing ideologies. Themes postmodernism philosophy politics Mood thoughtful critical Type philosophical political When to use this quote - academic debate - social activism - media critique - education reform Key Concepts Difference unpresentable totality Questions to Reflect On - What does “war on totality” mean today? - How can we practice witnessing the unpresentable? A Different Perspective Complex language may limit accessibility. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Appeasement](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/appeasement/) [Demand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/demand/) [Desire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/desire/) [Differences](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/differences/) [Fantasy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fantasy/) [Nostalgia](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/nostalgia/) [Peacebuilding](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/peacebuilding/) [Reality](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/reality/) [Realization](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/realization/) [Reconciliation](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/reconciliation/) [Sensible](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sensible/) [Twentieth century](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/twentieth-century/) [War](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/war/) ## Related quotes > [No Spanish government has given into terror and no government will do that.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jose-luis-rodriguez-zapatero/no-spanish-government-has-given-into-terror-and-no-government-will-do/) [Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jose-luis-rodriguez-zapatero/) > [“The present mood in which they sat relaxed was nothing more than the relief of two people coming back to a bombed building once…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rosamond-lehmann/the-present-mood-in-which-they-sat-relaxed-was-nothing-more-than-the/) [Rosamond Lehmann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rosamond-lehmann/) > [“Like a tightrope walker who has forgotten how to put one foot in front of the other, all I felt was the swaying of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/w-g-sebald-2/like-a-tightrope-walker-who-has-forgotten-how-to-put-one-foot-in/) [W.G. 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We have paid a high enough price for the nostalgia of the whole and the one, for the reconciliation of the concept and the sensible, of the transparent and the communicable experience. Under the general demand for slackening and for appeasement, we can hear the mutterings of the desire for a return of terror, for the realization of the fantasy to seize reality. 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