--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: It turns out that in the year following…" description: "\"“It turns out that in the year following the 9/11 attacks, despite all the talk of terrorism and war, the average person was more likely to kill himsel..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/68b/yuval-noah-harari-100_average-person_it-turns-out-that-in-the-year-following_3177168.jpg" --- # It turns out that in the year following the 9/11 attacks… ![“It turns out that in the year following the 9/11 attacks, despite all the talk of terrorism and war, the average person was more likely to kill himself than to be killed by a terrorist, a soldier or a drug dealer. In” quote by Yuval Noah Harari](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/68b/yuval-noah-harari-100_average-person_it-turns-out-that-in-the-year-following_3177168.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/68b/yuval-noah-harari-100_average-person_it-turns-out-that-in-the-year-following_3177168.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/68b/yuval-noah-harari-100_average-person_it-turns-out-that-in-the-year-following_3177168.jpg) > ““It turns out that in the year following the 9/11 attacks, despite all the talk of terrorism and war, the average person was more likely to kill himself than to be killed by a terrorist, a soldier or a drug dealer. In”” [Yuval Noah Harari](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yuval-noah-harari/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Statistics show self‑harm outpaces terrorism, highlighting internal societal threats exceed external ones. **In simple terms:** People are more likely to die by suicide than by terrorism. Key Takeaway Address mental health and societal wellbeing. Themes Mental health societal risk statistics Mood concerned analytical Type sociological informative When to use this quote - Public health policy - mental health services - community support Key Concepts Suicide rates terrorism perception Questions to Reflect On - Why are internal threats overlooked? - What can reduce suicide rates? A Different Perspective Self‑harm data may be underreported or misinterpreted. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Average person](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/average-person/) [Killed Terrorist](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/killed-terrorist-2910125/) [Talk Terrorism](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/talk-terrorism-5806712/) [Terrorism](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/terrorism/) [Terrorism War](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/terrorism-war-401791/) [Terrorist](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/terrorist/) [War](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/war/) ## Related quotes > [I am encouraged by the news today that United States special operations personnel found, identified and killed the terrorist Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, the operational…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mike-fitzpatrick/i-am-encouraged-by-the-news-today-that-united-states-special/) [Mike Fitzpatrick](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mike-fitzpatrick/) > [If it is terrorism, if it is war on terror, then the Afghan people will join you on terror.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hamid-karzai/if-it-is-terrorism-if-it-is-war-on-terror-then-the-afghan-people-will/) [Hamid Karzai](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hamid-karzai/) > [How can you have a war on terrorism when war itself is terrorism?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/howard-zinn/how-can-you-have-a-war-on-terrorism-when-war-itself-is-terrorism/) [Howard Zinn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/howard-zinn/) > [It is time we admitted that we are not at war with “terrorism.” We are at war with Islam.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sam-harris/it-is-time-we-admitted-that-we-are-not-at-war-with-terrorism-we-are/) [Sam Harris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sam-harris/) > [“raises the possibility that the immense improvement in material conditions over the last two centuries was offset by the collapse of the family and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yuval-noah-harari/raises-the-possibility-that-the-immense-improvement-in-material/) [Yuval Noah Harari](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yuval-noah-harari/) > [For thousands of years, until about 1850, you see humans accumulating more and more power by the invention of new technologies and by new…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yuval-noah-harari/for-thousands-of-years-until-about-1850-you-see-humans-accumulating/) [Yuval Noah Harari](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yuval-noah-harari/) > [“The average person lived many months without seeing or hearing a human from outside of her own band, and she encountered throughout her life…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yuval-noah-harari/the-average-person-lived-many-months-without-seeing-or-hearing-a/) [Yuval Noah Harari](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yuval-noah-harari/) > [“The average person might well be no happier today than in 1800. Even the freedom we value so highly may be working against us.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yuval-noah-harari/the-average-person-might-well-be-no-happier-today-than-in-1800-even/) [Yuval Noah Harari](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yuval-noah-harari/) > [War is a lie. War is a racket. War is hell. War is waste. War is a crime. War is terrorism. 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Bush](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-w-bush/) > [When you have terrorism, you have a war. When you have a war, you always have innocent lives that could be the victim of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bashar-al-assad/when-you-have-terrorism-you-have-a-war-when-you-have-a-war-you-always/) [Bashar al-Assad](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bashar-al-assad/) > [The trauma of 9/11 stimulated infinite possibilities for worry - some quite plausible, but most inspired by remote what-if fantasies. A society bingeing on…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-greider/the-trauma-of-9-11-stimulated-infinite-possibilities-for-worry-some/) [William Greider](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-greider/) ## More by Yuval Noah Harari > [“For similar reasons, archaic humans did not initiate any revolutions. As far as we can tell, changes in social patterns, the invention of new…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yuval-noah-harari/for-similar-reasons-archaic-humans-did-not-initiate-any-revolutions/) [Yuval Noah Harari](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yuval-noah-harari/) > [“Today the main source of wealth is knowledge. And whereas you can conquer oil fields through war, you cannot acquire knowledge that way.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yuval-noah-harari/today-the-main-source-of-wealth-is-knowledge-and-whereas-you-can/) [Yuval Noah Harari](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yuval-noah-harari/) > [“How do you cause people to believe in an imagined order such as Christianity, democracy or capitalism? 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We invented them to serve us; why do we find ourselves sacrificing our lives in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yuval-noah-harari/corporations-money-and-nations-exist-only-in-our-imagination-we/) [Yuval Noah Harari](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yuval-noah-harari/) > [“Small children in affluent societies often dislike showering, and it takes them years of education and parental discipline to adopt this supposedly attractive custom.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yuval-noah-harari/small-children-in-affluent-societies-often-dislike-showering-and-it/) [Yuval Noah Harari](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yuval-noah-harari/) > [“Ever more scholars see cultures as a kind of mental infection or parasite, with humans as its unwitting host. 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The fly is so weak that it cannot budge even a single…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yuval-noah-harari/terrorists-are-like-a-fly-that-tries-to-destroy-a-china-shop-the-fly/) [Yuval Noah Harari](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yuval-noah-harari/) > [“Yet what happens if the greedy shoemaker increases his profits by paying employees less and increasing their work hours? The standard answer is that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yuval-noah-harari/yet-what-happens-if-the-greedy-shoemaker-increases-his-profits-by/) [Yuval Noah Harari](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yuval-noah-harari/) > [“A natural order is a stable order. There is no chance that gravity will cease to function tomorrow, even if people stop believing in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yuval-noah-harari/a-natural-order-is-a-stable-order-there-is-no-chance-that-gravity/) [Yuval Noah Harari](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yuval-noah-harari/) [Explore all 1,200 Yuval Noah Harari quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yuval-noah-harari/) ## More Average person quotes > [“She'd always been a little excitable, a little more passionate about books than your average person, but she was supposed to be -- she…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sarah-beth-durst/she-d-always-been-a-little-excitable-a-little-more-passionate-about/) [Sarah Beth Durst](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sarah-beth-durst/) > [I feel like what motivates me is what would motivate the regular average person.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rico-nasty/i-feel-like-what-motivates-me-is-what-would-motivate-the-regular/) [Rico Nasty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rico-nasty/) > [We're trying to do something so that when the average person uses Pinterest, it has to make the service better.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ben-silbermann/we-re-trying-to-do-something-so-that-when-the-average-person-uses/) [Ben Silbermann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ben-silbermann/) > [My dad was not a footballer. He wasn't anything remotely what the average person would say was a role model - but in my…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/troy-deeney/my-dad-was-not-a-footballer-he-wasn-t-anything-remotely-what-the/) [Troy Deeney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/troy-deeney/) > [The harsh truth is that Trump is a living co-morbidity, he's over 70, out of shape, eats terribly and doesn't believe in science. In…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jason-johnson/the-harsh-truth-is-that-trump-is-a-living-co-morbidity-he-s-over-70/) [Jason Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jason-johnson/) > [The average person would have quit at the first failure. 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