When You're Scared, You're Still Hanging On

Right Now, America Doesn't Ask Us To Do Anything Besides Pay Taxes. We Don't Even Have To Vote. But As Psychologists Will Tell You, When You Have To Sacrifice For Something, You Value It More. What About National Service For Young People? Everybody Between 18 And 24 Could Spend A Year Or Two Working For This Country In Some Capacity. It'd Be An Amazing Thing. And It Would Mix This Country Racially, Culturally, Economically.

Maybe The Ultimate Wound Is The One That Makes You Miss The War You Got It In.

Often People Who Live Through The Trauma Are Nostalgic When It's Over. When I Went Back To Bosnia 20 Years After The Brutal Civil War, Even People Who Had Been Badly Wounded Told Me They Missed Those Times. They Were Missing Their More Courageous Selves.

I Think Objectivity Is Like This Strange Myth That People Think You're Supposed To Achieve, But Actually, The Dirty Little Secret Is That It's Not Attainable Any More Than Pure Justice Is Attainable By The Courts.

War Is A Lot Of Things And It's Useless To Pretend That Exciting Isn't One Of Them. (pg. 144)