--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: I wrote somewhere during the Cold War…" description: "\"I wrote somewhere during the Cold War that I sometimes wish the Iron Curtain were much taller than it is, so that you could see whether the development..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a2e/thomas-gold-78450_cold-war_i-wrote-somewhere-during-the-cold-war-th_1452752.jpg" --- # I wrote somewhere during the Cold War that I sometimes… ![“I wrote somewhere during the Cold War that I sometimes wish the Iron Curtain were much taller than it is, so that you could see whether the development of science with no communication was parallel on the two sides. In this case it certainly wasn't.” quote by Thomas Gold](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a2e/thomas-gold-78450_cold-war_i-wrote-somewhere-during-the-cold-war-th_1452752.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a2e/thomas-gold-78450_cold-war_i-wrote-somewhere-during-the-cold-war-th_1452752.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a2e/thomas-gold-78450_cold-war_i-wrote-somewhere-during-the-cold-war-th_1452752.jpg) > “I wrote somewhere during the Cold War that I sometimes wish the Iron Curtain were much taller than it is, so that you could see whether the development of science with no communication was parallel on the two sides. In this case it certainly wasn't.” Thomas Gold ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. He reflects on the missed scientific exchange due to Cold War barriers. **In simple terms:** Barriers blocked scientific exchange. Key Takeaway Promote open international collaboration. Themes science communication politics Mood reflective hopeful Type philosophical inspirational When to use this quote - academic conferences - policy making - cross‑cultural projects Key Concepts Cold War history global research Questions to Reflect On - How does openness accelerate discovery? - What obstacles remain in global science? A Different Perspective Political tensions can still impede cooperation. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Cold war](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/cold-war/) [Communication](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/communication/) [Iron curtain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/iron-curtain/) [Science](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/science/) [Two sides](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/two-sides/) [War](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/war/) ## Related quotes > [No more war! Never again war! If you wish to be brothers, drop your weapons.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pope-paul-vi/no-more-war-never-again-war-if-you-wish-to-be-brothers-drop-your/) [Pope Paul VI](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pope-paul-vi/) > [I have seen enough of one war never to wish to see another.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-jefferson/i-have-seen-enough-of-one-war-never-to-wish-to-see-another/) [Thomas Jefferson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-jefferson/) > [Americans have always risen to the moment, from defeating the scourge of fascism to bringing down the Iron Curtain.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-ratcliffe/americans-have-always-risen-to-the-moment-from-defeating-the-scourge/) [John Ratcliffe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-ratcliffe/) > [The horrors of the Second World War, the chilling winds of the Cold War and the crushing weight of the Iron Curtain are little…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jan-peter-balkenende/the-horrors-of-the-second-world-war-the-chilling-winds-of-the-cold/) [Jan Peter Balkenende](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jan-peter-balkenende/) > [You know that Estonia, based largely on how successful Skype was, built by Estonian developers, that was a tenth of the entire country's GDP…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexis-ohanian/you-know-that-estonia-based-largely-on-how-successful-skype-was-built/) [Alexis Ohanian](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexis-ohanian/) > [From behind the Iron Curtain, there are signs that tyranny is in trouble and reminders that its structure is as brittle as its surface…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dwight-d-eisenhower/from-behind-the-iron-curtain-there-are-signs-that-tyranny-is-in/) [Dwight D. Eisenhower](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dwight-d-eisenhower/) > [I was in the Rockin' Vicars, which was the first British band to tour behind the Iron Curtain. A lot of photos were taken…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lemmy/i-was-in-the-rockin-vicars-which-was-the-first-british-band-to-tour/) [Lemmy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lemmy/) > [I spent a lot of time behind the Iron Curtain, and their cars were abysmal.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/p-j-o-rourke/i-spent-a-lot-of-time-behind-the-iron-curtain-and-their-cars-were/) [P. J. O'Rourke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/p-j-o-rourke/) > [What can not be overcome in prayer? Answer me! What cannot be done by the hand of the Almighty? Answer me! What can be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-washer/what-can-not-be-overcome-in-prayer-answer-me-what-cannot-be-done-by/) [Paul Washer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-washer/) > [But scientists on both sides of the iron curtain played a very significant role in maintaining the momentum of the nuclear arms race throughout…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-rotblat/but-scientists-on-both-sides-of-the-iron-curtain-played-a-very/) [Joseph Rotblat](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-rotblat/) > [If the German people lay down their arms the whole of Eastern and Southern Europe, together with the Reich, will come under Russian occupation.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-goebbels/if-the-german-people-lay-down-their-arms-the-whole-of-eastern-and/) [Joseph Goebbels](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-goebbels/) > [“WALLS The Berlin Wall made the news every day. From morning till night we read, saw, heard: the Wall of Shame, the Wall of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eduardo-galeano/walls-the-berlin-wall-made-the-news-every-day-from-morning-till-night/) [Eduardo Galeano](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eduardo-galeano/) > [Now that we are used to globalisation it's hard to imagine a time when the countries behind the iron curtain were largely obscured from…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-fisher/now-that-we-are-used-to-globalisation-it-s-hard-to-imagine-a-time/) [Mark Fisher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-fisher/) > [I am one of those people who believes that the solution to the world's problems is to be found behind the Iron Curtain.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/che-guevara/i-am-one-of-those-people-who-believes-that-the-solution-to-the-world/) [Che Guevara](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/che-guevara/) > [History has often showed us the strength of the forces that are unleashed by the yearning for freedom. It moved people to overcome their…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/angela-merkel/history-has-often-showed-us-the-strength-of-the-forces-that-are/) [Angela Merkel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/angela-merkel/) ## More by Thomas Gold > [“A theorist can explain any correlation, and its inverse”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-gold/a-theorist-can-explain-any-correlation-and-its-inverse/) Thomas Gold > [In choosing a hypothesis there is no virtue in being timid. I clearly would have been burned at the stake in another age.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-gold/in-choosing-a-hypothesis-there-is-no-virtue-in-being-timid-i-clearly/) Thomas Gold Explore all 3 Thomas Gold quotes ## More Cold war quotes > [“A clear look back on the Cold War's battlegrounds, along with a sense of relief that the world survived forty-five years of confrontation, evokes…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/a-clear-look-back-on-the-cold-war-s-battlegrounds-along-with-a-sense/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [We have Internet now and people are not stupid. But it seems that some people are trying to push the same agenda of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bassem-youssef/we-have-internet-now-and-people-are-not-stupid-but-it-seems-that-some/) [Bassem Youssef](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bassem-youssef/) > [“The low point occurred in July, during Romney’s junior week abroad, in which the press became increasingly frustrated over Romney’s refusal to talk to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-leibovich/the-low-point-occurred-in-july-during-romney-s-junior-week-abroad-in/) [Mark Leibovich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-leibovich/) > [We have won an armistice on a single battlefield, not peace in our world. We may not now relax our guard nor cease our…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dwight-d-eisenhower/we-have-won-an-armistice-on-a-single-battlefield-not-peace-in-our/) [Dwight D. Eisenhower](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dwight-d-eisenhower/) > [We do not have the right to forget that reactionary imperialism exists and its forces actively operate in the world, that they encourage the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrei-grechko/we-do-not-have-the-right-to-forget-that-reactionary-imperialism/) Andrei Grechko > [If you don't like us, don't accept our invitations and don't invite us to come to see you. Whether you like it or not,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nikita-khrushchev/if-you-don-t-like-us-don-t-accept-our-invitations-and-don-t-invite-us/) [Nikita Khrushchev](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nikita-khrushchev/) > [Ever since the end of the Cold War, it has been our paramount interest in Europe to strengthen NATO and to extend it -…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-malinowski/ever-since-the-end-of-the-cold-war-it-has-been-our-paramount-interest/) [Tom Malinowski](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-malinowski/) > [“And so this is where the post Cold War has brought us: to the recognition that the very totalitarism that we fought against in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-d-kaplan/and-so-this-is-where-the-post-cold-war-has-brought-us-to-the/) [Robert D. Kaplan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-d-kaplan/) > [And so the greatest of American triumphs... became a peculiarly joyless victory. We had won the Cold War, but there would be no parades.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-m-gates/and-so-the-greatest-of-american-triumphs-became-a-peculiarly-joyless/) [Robert M. Gates](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-m-gates/) > [Socialism would gather all power to the supreme party and party leaders, rising like stately pinnacles above their vast bureaucracies of civil servants no…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/winston-churchill/socialism-would-gather-all-power-to-the-supreme-party-and-party/) [Winston Churchill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/winston-churchill/) > [During the Cold War, we lived in coded times when it wasn't easy and there were shades of grey and ambiguity.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-le-carre/during-the-cold-war-we-lived-in-coded-times-when-it-wasn-t-easy-and/) [John le Carre](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-le-carre/) > [“Stellar Wind resurrected Cold War tactics with twenty-first-century technology. It let the FBI work with the NSA outside of the limits of the law.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tim-weiner/stellar-wind-resurrected-cold-war-tactics-with-twenty-first-century/) [Tim Weiner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tim-weiner/) > [TICAD is a conference Japan launched in 1993 to assist self-supporting development in Africa against the backdrop of the declining international interest in the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fumio-kishida/ticad-is-a-conference-japan-launched-in-1993-to-assist-self/) [Fumio Kishida](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fumio-kishida/) > [I have seen the rise and fall of Nazi tyranny, the subsequent cold war and the nuclear nightmare that for fifty years haunted the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ronald-reagan/i-have-seen-the-rise-and-fall-of-nazi-tyranny-the-subsequent-cold-war/) [Ronald Reagan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ronald-reagan/) > [The Cold War philosophy of Mutual Assured Destruction (MAD), which prevented the former Soviet Union and the United States from using the nuclear weapons…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bernard-lewis/the-cold-war-philosophy-of-mutual-assured-destruction-mad-which/) [Bernard Lewis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bernard-lewis/) [Browse all 906 Cold war quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/cold-war/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "I wrote somewhere during the Cold War that I sometimes wish the Iron Curtain were much taller than it is, so that you could see whether the development of science with no communication was parallel on the two sides. 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