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

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.

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.

Writing was always an aspiration, but I'd kept it a secret even from myself.

We can't be sad for her, " she murmured. "Only for ourselves at having to say good-bye.

You may have a wen or a cancer upon your person and not be able to cut it out lest you bleed to death; but surely it is no way tocure it, to engraft it and spread it over your whole body.

I am skittish about relationships, as most of the marriages I've seen up close have been ruinous for one or both parties.

My path to victory is to talk about the issues that impact the lives of millions of Americans.

It's not the size of the dog in the fight, it's the size of the dog's owner - and the distance you are from your car.

The music business is really a spiritual business whether we know it or not.

I like to use the term alchemy, which is the soul of the world, or those of Jung's collective unconscious. You connect with a space where everything is.

The breath of the flute player: does it belong to the flute?

The cost of obedience is small compared with the cost of disobedience.