--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: There was always something sickening…" description: "\"There was always something sickening about tourists taking pictures of themselves posing in front of that big gaping hole called Ground Zero.\" — Mona E..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0c9/mona-eltahawy-4721_always_there-was-always-something-sickening-abo_2501629.jpg" --- # There was always something sickening about tourists taking… ![“There was always something sickening about tourists taking pictures of themselves posing in front of that big gaping hole called Ground Zero.” quote by Mona Eltahawy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0c9/mona-eltahawy-4721_always_there-was-always-something-sickening-abo_2501629.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0c9/mona-eltahawy-4721_always_there-was-always-something-sickening-abo_2501629.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0c9/mona-eltahawy-4721_always_there-was-always-something-sickening-abo_2501629.jpg) > “There was always something sickening about tourists taking pictures of themselves posing in front of that big gaping hole called Ground Zero.” [Mona Eltahawy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mona-eltahawy/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Tourists exploiting tragedy sites for selfies shows insensitivity and moral decay. **In simple terms:** Tourism can be disrespectful at sacred places. Key Takeaway Practice respectful travel. Themes ethics memory tourism Mood somber critical Type ethical philosophical When to use this quote - visiting memorials - photo etiquette - travel education Key Concepts cultural sensitivity collective trauma Questions to Reflect On - How can we honor victims while educating visitors? - What guidelines should govern behavior at memorial sites? A Different Perspective Some argue tourism raises awareness of tragedies. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Ground zero](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ground-zero/) [Taking pictures](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/taking-pictures/) [Tourists](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/tourists/) ## Related quotes > [“I began to think of myself as a perennial tourist. There was something agreeable about this. To be a tourist is to escape accountability.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/don-delillo/i-began-to-think-of-myself-as-a-perennial-tourist-there-was-something/) [Don DeLillo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/don-delillo/) > [I learned to be a hot-air balloon pilot to take tourists over the Masai Mara Reserve in order to earn some money and finance…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yann-arthus-bertrand/i-learned-to-be-a-hot-air-balloon-pilot-to-take-tourists-over-the/) [Yann Arthus-Bertrand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yann-arthus-bertrand/) > [“TO BE A TOURIST is to escape accountability. Errors and failings don't cling to you the way they do back home. You're able to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/don-delillo/to-be-a-tourist-is-to-escape-accountability-errors-and-failings-don-t-2/) [Don DeLillo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/don-delillo/) > [How do I soothe his ache when mine was a big gaping hole large enough for both of us to fit in?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/abbi-glines/how-do-i-soothe-his-ache-when-mine-was-a-big-gaping-hole-large-enough/) [Abbi Glines](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/abbi-glines/) > [Oh, what can mend the gaping hole that is my heart?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laura-ramirez/oh-what-can-mend-the-gaping-hole-that-is-my-heart/) [Laura Ramirez](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laura-ramirez/) > [It is my view there is a gaping hole in parliamentary oversight.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/crispin-blunt/it-is-my-view-there-is-a-gaping-hole-in-parliamentary-oversight/) [Crispin Blunt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/crispin-blunt/) > [Ports are the gaping hole in America's homeland security.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dianne-feinstein/ports-are-the-gaping-hole-in-america-s-homeland-security/) [Dianne Feinstein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dianne-feinstein/) > [I'm trying to fill the gaping hole in my chest with music.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/i-m-trying-to-fill-the-gaping-hole-in-my-chest-with-music/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“For reasons unexplained, every person in the world is born with a large gaping hole in the center of their chest...while not uncomfortable, it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aaron-diaz/for-reasons-unexplained-every-person-in-the-world-is-born-with-a/) Aaron Diaz > [“Get the hell away from us before i go find my hammer and pound some sense into that gaping hole between your ears”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kristen-middleton/get-the-hell-away-from-us-before-i-go-find-my-hammer-and-pound-some/) [kristen middleton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kristen-middleton/) > [So all in all there wasn't anything really wrong with my life. Except that, like most everyone else's I knew about, it had a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jack-finney/so-all-in-all-there-wasn-t-anything-really-wrong-with-my-life-except/) [Jack Finney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jack-finney/) > [“9:12 P.M.—GROUND ZERO, WASHINGTON, D.C. Without warning, the capital of the United States was obliterated. At precisely 9:12 p.m. Eastern, in a millisecond of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joel-c-rosenberg/9-12-p-m-ground-zero-washington-d-c-without-warning-the-capital-of/) [Joel C. Rosenberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joel-c-rosenberg/) > [If there is a ground zero in the cultural wars, it is Missouri, a state where pro-life groups are strong and well organized and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eleanor-clift/if-there-is-a-ground-zero-in-the-cultural-wars-it-is-missouri-a-state/) [Eleanor Clift](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eleanor-clift/) > [“The hunger for power has made them cruel They shed humanity and shed every rule They bow to the devil, deny what is just…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mohammed-zaki-ansari/the-hunger-for-power-has-made-them-cruel-they-shed-humanity-and-shed/) [Mohammed Zaki Ansari](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mohammed-zaki-ansari/) > [I love design; to create stuff from ground zero is the best for me. I'm always so intense when I talk about that.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/grigor-dimitrov/i-love-design-to-create-stuff-from-ground-zero-is-the-best-for-me-i-m/) [Grigor Dimitrov](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/grigor-dimitrov/) ## More by Mona Eltahawy > [I defend a woman's right to cover her hair if she chooses, but the face is central to human interaction, and so the ideologues…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mona-eltahawy/i-defend-a-woman-s-right-to-cover-her-hair-if-she-chooses-but-the/) [Mona Eltahawy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mona-eltahawy/) > [My birth at the end of July 1967 makes me a child of the naksa, or setback, as the Arab defeat during the June…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mona-eltahawy/my-birth-at-the-end-of-july-1967-makes-me-a-child-of-the-naksa-or/) [Mona Eltahawy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mona-eltahawy/) > [Saudi Arabia isn't just a conservative country with different values we shouldn't judge. It is a modern Gilead.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mona-eltahawy/saudi-arabia-isn-t-just-a-conservative-country-with-different-values/) [Mona Eltahawy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mona-eltahawy/) > [I can write about my culture and religion because I am a product of both. Even when I'm accused of giving ammunition to the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mona-eltahawy/i-can-write-about-my-culture-and-religion-because-i-am-a-product-of/) [Mona Eltahawy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mona-eltahawy/) > [“Why were women alone responsible for sheltering men from the sexual desires women supposedly elicited in men? Why could men not control themselves? Why,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mona-eltahawy/why-were-women-alone-responsible-for-sheltering-men-from-the-sexual/) [Mona Eltahawy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mona-eltahawy/) > [Saudi authorities must launch a campaign about the safety of female pilgrims and the determination of the authorities to ensure every woman's safety.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mona-eltahawy/saudi-authorities-must-launch-a-campaign-about-the-safety-of-female/) [Mona Eltahawy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mona-eltahawy/) > [For years I looked at the Iranians with envy - not at the outcome of their 1979 revolution, but because it was a popular…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mona-eltahawy/for-years-i-looked-at-the-iranians-with-envy-not-at-the-outcome-of/) [Mona Eltahawy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mona-eltahawy/) > [Bashar al-Assad's henchmen stomped on the hands of famed Syrian cartoonist Ali Farzat. Our dictators tailor wounds to suit their victims' occupations.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mona-eltahawy/bashar-al-assad-s-henchmen-stomped-on-the-hands-of-famed-syrian/) [Mona Eltahawy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mona-eltahawy/) > [When Mubarak does die, he will be remembered as the most bland of those military men turned dictators: compare him with Gamal Abdel-Nasser and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mona-eltahawy/when-mubarak-does-die-he-will-be-remembered-as-the-most-bland-of/) [Mona Eltahawy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mona-eltahawy/) > [As a Muslim woman, I'm all too familiar with the media shorthand for 'Muslim' and 'woman' equaling Covered in Black Muslim Woman. She's seen,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mona-eltahawy/as-a-muslim-woman-i-m-all-too-familiar-with-the-media-shorthand-for/) [Mona Eltahawy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mona-eltahawy/) > [I am horrified by the moral amnesia that develops when a dictator dies.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mona-eltahawy/i-am-horrified-by-the-moral-amnesia-that-develops-when-a-dictator-dies/) [Mona Eltahawy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mona-eltahawy/) > [I left my husband a year after 9/11. Not because he was an American and I an Egyptian, nothing to do with culture or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mona-eltahawy/i-left-my-husband-a-year-after-9-11-not-because-he-was-an-american/) [Mona Eltahawy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mona-eltahawy/) > [I joke that one of the rare times Egyptians identify as African is when the national soccer squad is playing in the African Cup…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mona-eltahawy/i-joke-that-one-of-the-rare-times-egyptians-identify-as-african-is/) [Mona Eltahawy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mona-eltahawy/) > [I grew up in the U.K., and my parents are both doctors.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mona-eltahawy/i-grew-up-in-the-u-k-and-my-parents-are-both-doctors/) [Mona Eltahawy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mona-eltahawy/) > [My own feminist revolution evolved slowly, and traveled the world with me. To this day I have no idea what dissident professor or librarian…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mona-eltahawy/my-own-feminist-revolution-evolved-slowly-and-traveled-the-world-with/) [Mona Eltahawy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mona-eltahawy/) [Explore all 107 Mona Eltahawy quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mona-eltahawy/) ## More Always quotes > [I think performing has pretty much always been a part of me.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isa-briones/i-think-performing-has-pretty-much-always-been-a-part-of-me/) [Isa Briones](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isa-briones/) > [I always thought if I was born 2000 years earlier, I would be a monk, probably carving a monastery or some giant pantheon buildings.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jenova-chen/i-always-thought-if-i-was-born-2000-years-earlier-i-would-be-a-monk/) [Jenova Chen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jenova-chen/) > [I always like a character who makes me laugh.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rachael-stirling/i-always-like-a-character-who-makes-me-laugh/) [Rachael Stirling](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rachael-stirling/) > [It's always great to see old friends, especially those I have not been able to see in 15 months.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-regal/it-s-always-great-to-see-old-friends-especially-those-i-have-not-been/) [William Regal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-regal/) > [When you step out and do a song in a musical, the easier thing to do is make it funny. But when those transitions…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kelli-o-hara/when-you-step-out-and-do-a-song-in-a-musical-the-easier-thing-to-do/) [Kelli O'Hara](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kelli-o-hara/) > [I have really good lateral movement. I've always had quick lateral movement.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/austin-rivers/i-have-really-good-lateral-movement-i-ve-always-had-quick-lateral/) [Austin Rivers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/austin-rivers/) > [There is something magical about being able to feel somebody. And that is something that has always moved me with music.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maria-brink/there-is-something-magical-about-being-able-to-feel-somebody-and-that/) [Maria Brink](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maria-brink/) > [Mythology is something that always has opportunities to explore. 'It' has been on Earth for millions of years. He's been in contact with humans…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andy-muschietti/mythology-is-something-that-always-has-opportunities-to-explore-it/) [Andy Muschietti](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andy-muschietti/) > [It's not writing in the traditional sense, but I've always said that the writing process continues on the set and even into the editing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-b-weide/it-s-not-writing-in-the-traditional-sense-but-i-ve-always-said-that/) [Robert B. Weide](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-b-weide/) > [I always watch my matches back 100 times afterwards because that's how I improve. This is something I've always done, even in NXT.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mandy-rose/i-always-watch-my-matches-back-100-times-afterwards-because-that-s/) [Mandy Rose](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mandy-rose/) > [I've always been of the idea that is doesn't really matter where you are geographically - with 'Lonerism,' we made half the album in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kevin-parker/i-ve-always-been-of-the-idea-that-is-doesn-t-really-matter-where-you/) [Kevin Parker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kevin-parker/) > [It's very easy to fool yourself that you're working, you know, when you're really not working very hard. I mean, I'm very lazy. So…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-caro/it-s-very-easy-to-fool-yourself-that-you-re-working-you-know-when-you/) [Robert Caro](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-caro/) > [Whether it was Little League or playing with your brothers or sisters, that was always a problem. If I would lose - because I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cal-ripken-jr/whether-it-was-little-league-or-playing-with-your-brothers-or-sisters/) [Cal Ripken, Jr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cal-ripken-jr/) > [I always say if you put someone from a small town into a big city for ten years, then when they go back, they'll…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mike-colter/i-always-say-if-you-put-someone-from-a-small-town-into-a-big-city-for/) [Mike Colter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mike-colter/) > [Bayern is always a team that can win the Champions League title in Europe.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lothar-matthaus/bayern-is-always-a-team-that-can-win-the-champions-league-title-in/) [Lothar Matthaus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lothar-matthaus/) Browse all 36,048 Always quotes ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "There was always something sickening about tourists taking pictures of themselves posing in front of that big gaping hole called Ground Zero.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Mona Eltahawy" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mona-eltahawy/there-was-always-something-sickening-about-tourists-taking-pictures/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Always" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mona-eltahawy/there-was-always-something-sickening-about-tourists-taking-pictures/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0c9/mona-eltahawy-4721_always_there-was-always-something-sickening-abo_2501629.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0c9/mona-eltahawy-4721_always_there-was-always-something-sickening-abo_2501629.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0c9/mona-eltahawy-4721_always_there-was-always-something-sickening-abo_2501629.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“There was always something sickening about tourists taking pictures of themselves posing in front of that…” — Mona Eltahawy", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Mona Eltahawy", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mona-eltahawy/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "There was always something sickening about...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mona-eltahawy/there-was-always-something-sickening-about-tourists-taking-pictures/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mona-eltahawy/there-was-always-something-sickening-about-tourists-taking-pictures/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```