Paoli High School
Paoli, Oklahoma
War and Peace
Cassie Condley
12th grade
On September 11, 2002, Tragedy hit the United States. Thousands of people were
killed and we had no idea that any of this would happen. We did not know this would be
the beginning of a long and devastating war on terrorism. Arnold Toynbee once said”
History teaches us that when a barbarian race confronts a sleeping culture, the barbarian
always wins.” His quote relates to this tragedy.
Arnold Toynbee was born in 1889. He was a famous British historian who divided
world history into twenty- six civilizations and followed their rise, decline, and fall. Born in
London, he studied at the University of Oxford and at the British Archeological school of
Athens, Greece. He became a professor of international history at the University of
London in 1925. Toynbee passed away in 1975 a very smart man.
When i first read his quote it went well with the attacks that happened. In the
quote America would be the sleeping culture. We thought everything was pretty much at
ease. The people boarding the planes had no idea that their planes would be taken hostage.
And the people on their way to work at the World Trades Centers had no idea that some of
those very same planes would crash into their building causing them to burn and fall to the
ground. The barbarians, Osama Bin Laden and Al Queda, attacked us at our weakest
moment, when we least expected it. Arnold Toynbee said this quote many years ago, but it
still applies to situations happening now.
Another interesting quote that ties to the September 11 events is one by Andrew
Carnegie. He once said “ To kill a man will be considered as disgusting [in the twentieth
century] as we in this day consider it disgusting to eat one.”
Carnegie was born in 1835. His parents were Margaret and Will Carnegie. In 1848
they immigrated to the United States. They chose to settle in Pittsburgh. It was here that
Andrew Carnegie began to make his fortune. His first job was a bobbin boy in a textile
mill earning only $1.20 per week. Carnegie made innovations several years later like
keeping the telegraph open 24 hours a day and burning railroad-cars following accidents to
get the tracks clear and get the trains moving quickly. Soon after that he started investing
his money and later became one of the richest men in the world. He died in Lenox,
Massachusetts, on August 11, 1919. He is remembered for his many donations to charities
all over.
Obviously we do not consider it disgusting to kill someone as Carnegie put it. Wars
are still going on. People are still being killed every day, every second. Andrew Carnegie
probably said this in hopes that things would be different in centuries to come, but they
have not changed one bit. The attacks of September 11 defiantly prove that things ar not
all calm. Many innocent people were brutally murdered that day. Innocent people lost
their family members. We had no idea that it was going to happen. Most of the people
watched it on the television. They watched as those buildings came down. They watched
as the planes crashed right into them and they could not do anything to change it. But
even though this tragedy happened, it just made us a stronger nation. It made us open our
eyes and want this to never happen again.
So even though those barbarians took something great from us, they just made us
stronger. Our nation started helping each other again. All over the world people were
helping. I guess that is why America is so great. Even after all the wars, attacks, and
killings we are all still sticking together.