--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: It is common to say Watergate shattered…" description: "\"“It is common to say Watergate shattered American innocence, that Vietnam shattered American innocence, that September 11 shattered American innocence,..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ad2/suzy-hansen-47277_wishful-thinking_it-is-common-to-say-watergate-shattered_2091942.jpg" --- # It is common to say Watergate shattered American… ![“It is common to say Watergate shattered American innocence, that Vietnam shattered American innocence, that September 11 shattered American innocence, that Trump shattered American innocence. But this was all wishful thinking. American innocence never dies. That pain in my heart is my innocence.” quote by Suzy Hansen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ad2/suzy-hansen-47277_wishful-thinking_it-is-common-to-say-watergate-shattered_2091942.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ad2/suzy-hansen-47277_wishful-thinking_it-is-common-to-say-watergate-shattered_2091942.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ad2/suzy-hansen-47277_wishful-thinking_it-is-common-to-say-watergate-shattered_2091942.jpg) > ““It is common to say Watergate shattered American innocence, that Vietnam shattered American innocence, that September 11 shattered American innocence, that Trump shattered American innocence. But this was all wishful thinking. American innocence never dies. That pain in my heart is my innocence.”” [Suzy Hansen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/suzy-hansen/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. American innocence is portrayed as an enduring inner truth, not destroyed by external events. **In simple terms:** Innocence persists despite crises. Key Takeaway Recognize inner resilience. Themes identity resilience national narrative Mood reflective poignant Type philosophical personal When to use this quote - Political analysis - personal reflection - historical context Key Concepts Psychology collective memory Questions to Reflect On - How do personal experiences shape collective innocence? - What does innocence mean to you? A Different Perspective It may overlook systemic issues that affect innocence. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [American Innocence](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/american-innocence-4139103/) [Innocence](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/innocence/) [Innocence Dies](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/innocence-dies-3640101/) [Innocence Trump](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/innocence-trump-4139102/) [Watergate Shattered](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/watergate-shattered-4139104/) [Wishful thinking](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/wishful-thinking/) ## Related quotes > [“When somebody you love dies, a phase of life’s innocence dies with that person, and a part of you dies as well.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/janvier-chouteu-chando/when-somebody-you-love-dies-a-phase-of-life-s-innocence-dies-with/) [Janvier Chouteu-Chando](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/janvier-chouteu-chando/) > [World is running by the Lies where the truth is buried & innocence dies.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/world-is-running-by-the-lies-where-the-truth-is-buried-innocence-dies/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“ I now pronounce you husband and wife. I hadn’t considered the kiss. Not once. I suppose I’d assumed it would be the way…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ree-drummond/i-now-pronounce-you-husband-and-wife-i-hadn-t-considered-the-kiss-not/) [Ree Drummond](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ree-drummond/) > [“When Jim was growing up, good colleges were challenging to get into, but it wasn't like it is today, when being a solid, diligent…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kate-fagan/when-jim-was-growing-up-good-colleges-were-challenging-to-get-into/) [Kate Fagan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kate-fagan/) > [“My fingers combed through my dark hair, short and straight, landing in choppy, uneven ends nearly level with my chin. The color reminded me…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richelle-e-goodrich/my-fingers-combed-through-my-dark-hair-short-and-straight-landing-in/) [Richelle E. 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If the dead wandered among us, their spirits still present on this earth,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carolyn-parkhurst/anyway-i-thought-it-s-wishful-thinking-all-this-talk-of-ghosts-if-the/) [Carolyn Parkhurst](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carolyn-parkhurst/) > [Providence and Manifest Destiny are synonyms often invoked to support arguments based on wishful thinking.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frank-herbert/providence-and-manifest-destiny-are-synonyms-often-invoked-to-support/) [Frank Herbert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frank-herbert/) > [Theorems often tell us complex truths about the simple things, but only rarely tell us simple truths about the complex ones. To believe otherwise…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marvin-minsky/theorems-often-tell-us-complex-truths-about-the-simple-things-but/) [Marvin Minsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marvin-minsky/) > [Maybe it's wishful thinking, this snaggly faith of mine, or maybe it's Miles Davis saying, Don't play what's there, play what's not there.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-lamott/maybe-it-s-wishful-thinking-this-snaggly-faith-of-mine-or-maybe-it-s/) [Anne Lamott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-lamott/) > [“What would be the use of distributing millions upon billions upon trillions of sublime rasa-saturated scriptures if, as a result of all the hustle…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aindra-das/what-would-be-the-use-of-distributing-millions-upon-billions-upon/) [Aindra Das](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aindra-das/) ## More by Suzy Hansen > [“We in the West still seemed to believe the old story of how a man transformed an Islamic empire into a secular republic: Atatürk…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/suzy-hansen/we-in-the-west-still-seemed-to-believe-the-old-story-of-how-a-man/) [Suzy Hansen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/suzy-hansen/) > [“Anti-Americanism is not some bitter mental disorder inflamed by conspiracy theories and misplaced furies and envy. It is a broken heart, a defensive crouch,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/suzy-hansen/anti-americanism-is-not-some-bitter-mental-disorder-inflamed-by/) [Suzy Hansen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/suzy-hansen/) > [“This, I found, was what happened so often to me in Turkey: You’re learning about a country, you have read books, and so you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/suzy-hansen/this-i-found-was-what-happened-so-often-to-me-in-turkey-you-re/) [Suzy Hansen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/suzy-hansen/) > [“In school, we did not study world maps, because international geography, as a subject, had been long ago phased out of state curriculums. America…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/suzy-hansen/in-school-we-did-not-study-world-maps-because-international-geography/) [Suzy Hansen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/suzy-hansen/) > [“We were all patriotic, but I can’t even conceive of what else we would’ve been, because our entire experience was domestic, interior, American. We”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/suzy-hansen/we-were-all-patriotic-but-i-can-t-even-conceive-of-what-else-we-would/) [Suzy Hansen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/suzy-hansen/) > [“My friends’ point was: While this class snobbery may offend your Western sensibilities, you, foreigner, are perhaps better off playing by the rules of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/suzy-hansen/my-friends-point-was-while-this-class-snobbery-may-offend-your/) [Suzy Hansen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/suzy-hansen/) > [“But it is very, very rare that young white Americans come across someone who tells them in harsh, unforgiving terms that they might be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/suzy-hansen/but-it-is-very-very-rare-that-young-white-americans-come-across/) [Suzy Hansen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/suzy-hansen/) [Explore all 8 Suzy Hansen quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/suzy-hansen/) ## More Innocence quotes > [Children, Never look Back!" and this meant that we must never allow the future to be weighed down by memory . for children have…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/milan-kundera/children-never-look-back-and-this-meant-that-we-must-never-allow-the/) [Milan Kundera](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/milan-kundera/) > [It's still possible to savor the remarkable foods that millennia of human ingenuity have teased from milk. A sip of milk itself or a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harold-mcgee/it-s-still-possible-to-savor-the-remarkable-foods-that-millennia-of/) [Harold McGee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/harold-mcgee/) > [You've had a whole lot of experience, but everything is also radically new at each moment, and you have to bring a kind of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-houston/you-ve-had-a-whole-lot-of-experience-but-everything-is-also-radically/) [Jean Houston](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-houston/) > [It had never occurred to Giles that there was something perfectly sensible about wanting to hold onto innocence. He had always gone in for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/it-had-never-occurred-to-giles-that-there-was-something-perfectly/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“Let us not subside into a single mandatory way of thinking or feeling, immersed by a spirit of self-gratification. But let’s dig into the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/erik-pevernagie/let-us-not-subside-into-a-single-mandatory-way-of-thinking-or-feeling/) [Erik Pevernagie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/erik-pevernagie/) > [I don't think that on a daily basis, people need to be so concerned with others think. When someone comes forward and is an…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brad-goreski/i-don-t-think-that-on-a-daily-basis-people-need-to-be-so-concerned/) [Brad Goreski](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brad-goreski/) > [ “...under no circumstances would he \[Humbert Humbert\] have interfered with the innocence of a child, if there was the least risk of a row.” ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vladimir-nabokov/under-no-circumstances-would-he-humbert-humbert-have-interfered-with/) [Vladimir Nabokov](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vladimir-nabokov/) > [The sexual abuse and exploitation of children is one of the most vicious crimes conceivable, a violation of mankind's most basic duty to protect…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-t-walsh/the-sexual-abuse-and-exploitation-of-children-is-one-of-the-most/) [James T. Walsh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-t-walsh/) > [The decision of such judges as Claudius and his Senate is worth very little in the question of a man's innocence or guilt; but…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/the-decision-of-such-judges-as-claudius-and-his-senate-is-worth-very/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Ignorance is innocence - stupidity comes with experience](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amos-bronson-alcott/ignorance-is-innocence-stupidity-comes-with-experience/) [Amos Bronson Alcott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amos-bronson-alcott/) > [Ralph wept for the end of innocence, the darkness of man's heart, and the fall through the air of the true, wise friend called…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-golding/ralph-wept-for-the-end-of-innocence-the-darkness-of-man-s-heart-and/) [William Golding](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-golding/) > [There could never be innocence in a world without justice.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tim-bowler/there-could-never-be-innocence-in-a-world-without-justice/) [Tim Bowler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tim-bowler/) > [White and shining virgin of all human virtues, ark of the covenant between earth and heaven, tender and strong companion partaking of the lion…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/honor-de-balzac/white-and-shining-virgin-of-all-human-virtues-ark-of-the-covenant/) [Honore de Balzac](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/honor-de-balzac/) > [“In every guilty man, there is an element of innocence. This is what makes any absolute condemnation revolting. We do not think enough about…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-zaretsky/in-every-guilty-man-there-is-an-element-of-innocence-this-is-what/) [Robert Zaretsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-zaretsky/) > [“Ô, Wanderess, Wanderess When did you feel your most euphoric kiss? Was I the source of your greatest bliss?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roman-payne/wanderess-wanderess-when-did-you-feel-your-most-euphoric-kiss-was-i/) [Roman Payne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roman-payne/) [Browse all 1,629 Innocence quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/innocence/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“It is common to say Watergate shattered American innocence, that Vietnam shattered American innocence, that September 11 shattered American innocence, that Trump shattered American innocence. But this was all wishful thinking. American innocence never dies. 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