But I remember being told that the truth does not depend on being believed.

To understand the world, one’s place in it, is to be always at the risk of drowning.

There is a sharp distinction between what is remembered, what is told and what is true.

I can't envision an honest war novel that left war in a positive light.

My personal opinion is that if someone writes honestly about war, it will inherently be anti-war.

It's not just: you get off the plane, you're back home, everything's fine. Maybe the physical danger ends, but soldiers are still deeply at risk of being injured in a different way.

All choices are illusions, or if they are not illusions their strength is illusory, for one choice must contend with the choices of all the other men and women deciding anything in that moment.

As human beings, we have the blessing and the curse that we're able to adapt to almost anything. No matter how extreme the circumstances you're in, they become normal.

Freedom is not the same as lack of accountability.

I understood that 'The Yellow Birds' would be a peculiar representation of the experience of being at war. I intended it to be so.

Joining the military is not to be taken lightly. You're putting every part of yourself at risk, not just your body but your moral and spiritual centre.

We are defined by what we do

A bankruptcy judge can fix your balance sheet, but he cannot fix your company.

What was said before is not important.

Well, if you ask any filmmaker how they got into it, everyone came a different route. Ive never actually watched another director work.

You can't expect law enforcement to provide the solution to the drug problem.

A great step forward was made the day men understood that in order to torment one another more efficiently they would have to gather together, to organize themselves into a society

I am always excited for gaps of time where I can actually hang out with my friends.

Yeah, like Bizarro Superman, Superman's exact opposite, who lives in the backwards Bizarro world. Up is down, down is up, he says hello when he leaves, goodbye when he arrives.

You can do a lot in a lifetime, if you don't burn out too fast/You can make the most of the distance/First you need endurance/First you've got to last.

I prefer people who rock the boat to people who jump out