European nations began World War I with a glamorous vision of war, only to be psychologically shattered by the realities of the trenches. The experience changed the way people referred to the glamour of battle; they treated it no longer as a positive quality but as a dangerous illusion.

How we feel about the evolving future tells us who we are as individuals and as a civilization: Do we search for stasis-a regulated, engineered world? Or do we embrace dynamism-a world of constant creation, discovery, and competition?

Glamour is all about transcending this world and getting to an idealized, perfect place.

The impulse for personal adornment is hard to stamp out.

At the simplest level, only people who know they do not know everything will be curious enough to find things out.

Glamour doesn’t just happen, people don’t wake up in the morning glamorous.

The glamour of air travel - its aspirational meaning in the public imagination - disappeared before its luxury did, dissipating as flying gradually became commonplace.