“I came to think of it as a kind of zen practice: the Zen of not fucking up.” — Sebastian Junger Copy Share Image
Combat isn't where you might die -- though that does happen -- it's where you find out whether you get to keep… — Sebastian Junger Copy Share Image
“Most firefights go by so fast that acts of bravery or cowardice are more or less spontaneous. Soldiers might live the rest… — Sebastian Junger Copy Share Image
“The problem is that it's hard to aim a rifle when your heart is pounding, which points to an irony of modern… — Sebastian Junger Copy Share Image
During the air war of 1944, a four-man combat crew on a B-17 bomber took a vow to never abandon one another… — Sebastian Junger Copy Share Image
The combat environment has the effect of flattening out civilian identities. If you're young or old, or a graduate from Harvard or… — Sebastian Junger Copy Share Image
I decided to start a medical training program for freelancers, only freelancers. They're the ones who are doing most of the combat… — Sebastian Junger Copy Share Image
The negative effects of combat were nightmares, and I'd get jumpy around certain noises and stuff, but you'd have that after a… — Sebastian Junger Copy Share Image
“Stripped to its essence, combat is a series of quick decisions and rather precise actions carried out in concert with ten or… — Sebastian Junger Copy Share Image
No matter how many people you kill, using a machine gun in battle is not a war crime because it does not cause unnecessary… — Sebastian Junger Copy Share
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,… — Sebastian Junger Copy Share
“There are houses in Gloucester where grooves have been worn into the floorboards by women pacing past an upstairs window, looking out to sea.” — Sebastian Junger Copy Share
“Billy's at 44 north, 56 west and heading straight into meteorological hell.” — Sebastian Junger Copy Share
There is some evidence that average wave heights are slowly rising, and that freak waves of eighty or ninety feet are becoming more common.… — Sebastian Junger Copy Share
If you get an infection, you get a fever; the fever is your body dealing with the infection. If you get traumatized, your mind… — Sebastian Junger Copy Share
People who do really dangerous tasks can't afford to sit around and discuss the merits of what they're doing. — Sebastian Junger Copy Share
I would never want to pass a law limiting freedom of speech, but that doesn't mean we have to condone statements that undermine basic… — Sebastian Junger Copy Share
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… — Sebastian Junger Copy Share
Each Javelin round costs $80,000, and the idea that it's fired by a guy who doesn't make that in a year at a guy… — Sebastian Junger Copy Share
“I look at the names on the mailboxes and the bells inside number 1940 and pick out a couple of women’s names and press… — Sebastian Junger Copy Share
It's fun to have money, but the more money I get, the less interesting it becomes. If you don't have very much, you have… — Sebastian Junger Copy Share
“The United States is so powerful that the only country capable of destroying her might be the United States herself, which means that the… — Sebastian Junger Copy Share
The most profound question is, "What would I risk dying for?" The natural answer is "for my family." But for most of history, we… — Sebastian Junger Copy Share
When you're scared, you're still hanging on to life. When you're ready to die, you let it go. A sort of emptying out occurs,… — Sebastian Junger Copy Share
