---
title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Everyone thinks that being in a war is…"
description: "\"“Everyone thinks that being in a war is nothing but non-stop action and fighting. I thought that too before I came here. It is actually ninety percent ..."
image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/43d/bryan-a-wood-66262_boredom_everyone-thinks-that-being-in-a-war-is-n_2283846.jpg"
---

#  Everyone thinks that being in a war is nothing but…

![“Everyone thinks that being in a war is nothing but non-stop action and fighting. I thought that too before I came here. It is actually ninety percent boredom mixed with ten percent shitting your pants, and there is absolutely nothing in between.” quote by Bryan A. Wood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/43d/bryan-a-wood-66262_boredom_everyone-thinks-that-being-in-a-war-is-n_2283846.jpg)   [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/43d/bryan-a-wood-66262_boredom_everyone-thinks-that-being-in-a-war-is-n_2283846.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/43d/bryan-a-wood-66262_boredom_everyone-thinks-that-being-in-a-war-is-n_2283846.jpg)

> ““Everyone thinks that being in a war is nothing but non-stop action and fighting. I thought that too before I came here. It is actually ninety percent boredom mixed with ten percent shitting your pants, and there is absolutely nothing in between.””

[Bryan A. Wood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bryan-a-wood/)

## About This Quote

This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation.

War is often mundane boredom with occasional panic, not constant combat.

**In simple terms:** War is boredom and fear.

Key Takeaway

Prepare for monotony and stress.

Themes

war boredom anxiety

Mood

grim realistic

Type

military humorous

When to use this quote

- deployment training
- first‑responder prep
- student simulations

Key Concepts

military psychology combat stress

Questions to Reflect On

- How do you cope with prolonged boredom?
- What strategies reduce panic in high‑stress moments?

A Different Perspective

May underplay the trauma of combat.

★ ★ ★ ★ ★   No ratings yet

[Boredom](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/boredom/) [Peace](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/peace/) [Percent Boredom](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/percent-boredom-5340118/) [Percent Shitting](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/percent-shitting-5340119/) [Shitting Pants](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/shitting-pants-665985/) [Thinks War](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/thinks-war-428504/) [War](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/war/)

## Related quotes

> [“Days she's wasted locked up here in this room, and nothing she's done is half as good as the sketch of a chair she…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chuck-palahniuk/days-she-s-wasted-locked-up-here-in-this-room-and-nothing-she-s-done/)

[Chuck Palahniuk](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chuck-palahniuk/)

> [“Sokolov was favorable impressed by the fact that he had not yet shit his pants. Men always made crude jokes about people pissing their…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-stephenson/sokolov-was-favorable-impressed-by-the-fact-that-he-had-not-yet-shit/)

[Neil Stephenson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-stephenson/)

> [“Yes, that’s correct, I’ve just managed to squirt out some anal leakage as my dream girl makes her way to the door. A genuine…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-p-saunders/yes-that-s-correct-i-ve-just-managed-to-squirt-out-some-anal-leakage/)

[George P. Saunders](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-p-saunders/)

> [“I can’t believe how you’re not shitting your pants right now. He hasn’t even gotten to the good part. Parker, grab a bucket. Stick…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tijan/i-can-t-believe-how-you-re-not-shitting-your-pants-right-now-he-hasn/)

[Tijan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tijan/)

> [Always remember, you don't stop shitting your pants because you grow old. You grow old because you stop shitting your pants.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dana-gould/always-remember-you-don-t-stop-shitting-your-pants-because-you-grow/)

[Dana Gould](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dana-gould/)

> [Whoever thinks war allows for lasting victories should take a look at European history books and learn their lesson.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frank-walter-steinmeier/whoever-thinks-war-allows-for-lasting-victories-should-take-a-look-at/)

[Frank-Walter Steinmeier](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frank-walter-steinmeier/)

> [If things do get better in Iraq, I'm saying as someone who thinks the war was a mistake. I'm saying that is cause for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tucker-carlson/if-things-do-get-better-in-iraq-i-m-saying-as-someone-who-thinks-the/)

[Tucker Carlson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tucker-carlson/)

> [“We’re loyal servants of the U.S. government. But Afghanistan involves fighting behind enemy lines. Never mind we were invited into a democratic country by…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcus-luttrell/we-re-loyal-servants-of-the-u-s-government-but-afghanistan-involves/)

[Marcus Luttrell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcus-luttrell/)

> [“Every hour, she thinks, someone for whom the war was memory falls out of the world.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anthony-doerr/every-hour-she-thinks-someone-for-whom-the-war-was-memory-falls-out/)

[Anthony Doerr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anthony-doerr/)

> [ You can't beat your enemy anymore through wars; instead you create an entire generation of people revenge-seeking. \[...\] Our opponents are going to resort… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-clooney/you-can-t-beat-your-enemy-anymore-through-wars-instead-you-create-an/)

[George Clooney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-clooney/)

> [When a man's making love, the last thing he thinks about is war.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barry-white/when-a-man-s-making-love-the-last-thing-he-thinks-about-is-war/)

[Barry White](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barry-white/)

> [What I was trying to convey there was the kind of waste land that was left after the war. It was a bit like…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-martin/what-i-was-trying-to-convey-there-was-the-kind-of-waste-land-that-was/)

[George Martin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-martin/)

> [Boredom is vastly underrated. Boredom means that nothing is trying to kill you every day.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robin-hobb/boredom-is-vastly-underrated-boredom-means-that-nothing-is-trying-to/)

[Robin Hobb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robin-hobb/)

> [Life is what you make it¦If one refuses to use ones imagination..it will be boring.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/life-is-what-you-make-it-if-one-refuses-to-use-ones-imagination-it/)

[Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/)

> [I am fairly tired--bored beyond endurance--by the world we live in, and its ideals, and am ready to say so, not violently, but kindly,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-adams/i-am-fairly-tired-bored-beyond-endurance-by-the-world-we-live-in-and/)

[Henry Adams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-adams/)

## More by Bryan A. Wood

> [“For some life is incredibly easy, and for others, life is incredibly hard. Regardless of what side you fall on, you will certainly face…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bryan-a-wood/for-some-life-is-incredibly-easy-and-for-others-life-is-incredibly/)

[Bryan A. Wood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bryan-a-wood/)

> [“Hiding from pain only allows it to grow stronger and stronger. It’s like a beast that feeds off of you. It feeds off of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bryan-a-wood/hiding-from-pain-only-allows-it-to-grow-stronger-and-stronger-it-s/)

[Bryan A. Wood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bryan-a-wood/)

> [“We have all read about poverty and starvation around the world, but I never imagined I would be witnessing it firsthand. On one hand…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bryan-a-wood/we-have-all-read-about-poverty-and-starvation-around-the-world-but-i/)

[Bryan A. Wood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bryan-a-wood/)

[Explore all 4 Bryan A. Wood quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bryan-a-wood/)

## More Boredom quotes

> [I am fairly tired--bored beyond endurance--by the world we live in, and its ideals, and am ready to say so, not violently, but kindly,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-adams/i-am-fairly-tired-bored-beyond-endurance-by-the-world-we-live-in-and/)

[Henry Adams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-adams/)

> [Life is what you make it¦If one refuses to use ones imagination..it will be boring.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/life-is-what-you-make-it-if-one-refuses-to-use-ones-imagination-it/)

[Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/)

> [Boredom is vastly underrated. Boredom means that nothing is trying to kill you every day.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robin-hobb/boredom-is-vastly-underrated-boredom-means-that-nothing-is-trying-to/)

[Robin Hobb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robin-hobb/)

> [I'm bored of being bored because being bored is very boring](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sachithra/i-m-bored-of-being-bored-because-being-bored-is-very-boring/)

[Sachithra](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sachithra/)

> [When people look in the mirror, sometimes they see are their shells in the mirror, nothing else.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/when-people-look-in-the-mirror-sometimes-they-see-are-their-shells-in/)

[Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/)

> [I don't think anyone wants to do the same thing over and over again.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eric-bachmann/i-don-t-think-anyone-wants-to-do-the-same-thing-over-and-over-again/)

[Eric Bachmann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eric-bachmann/)

> [“A car is one of the most interesting inventions, but driving is one of the most boring activities.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mokokoma-mokhonoana/a-car-is-one-of-the-most-interesting-inventions-but-driving-is-one-of/)

[Mokokoma Mokhonoana](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mokokoma-mokhonoana/)

> [The most total opposite of pleasure is not pain but boredom, for we are willing to risk pain to make a boring life interesting.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-kreeft/the-most-total-opposite-of-pleasure-is-not-pain-but-boredom-for-we/)

[Peter Kreeft](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-kreeft/)

> [We shop out of boredom, for release, for excitement, for a sense of achievement, for a sense of control over our unruly existences. And…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tim-gunn/we-shop-out-of-boredom-for-release-for-excitement-for-a-sense-of/)

[Tim Gunn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tim-gunn/)

> [That human life must be some kind of mistake is sufficiently proved by the simple observation that man is a compound of needs which…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-schopenhauer/that-human-life-must-be-some-kind-of-mistake-is-sufficiently-proved/)

[Arthur Schopenhauer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-schopenhauer/)

> [Isn’t ‘not to be bored’ one of the principal goals of life?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gustave-flaubert/isn-t-not-to-be-bored-one-of-the-principal-goals-of-life/)

[Gustave Flaubert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gustave-flaubert/)

> [The worst sin, the ultimate sin for me, in anything, is to be bored.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ted-turner/the-worst-sin-the-ultimate-sin-for-me-in-anything-is-to-be-bored/)

[Ted Turner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ted-turner/)

> [Exploitation and manipulation produce boredom and triviality; they cripple man, and all factors that make man into a psychic cripple turn him also into…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/erich-fromm/exploitation-and-manipulation-produce-boredom-and-triviality-they/)

[Erich Fromm](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/erich-fromm/)

> [“To me, at least in retrospect, the really interesting question is why dullness proves to be such a powerful impediment to attention. Why we…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-foster-wallace/to-me-at-least-in-retrospect-the-really-interesting-question-is-why/)

[David Foster Wallace](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-foster-wallace/)

> [Listen deeply. Meditate on that which is arising. Even if it's boredom or difficulty or maybe a feeling of being stuck, that in itself…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rodney-yee/listen-deeply-meditate-on-that-which-is-arising-even-if-it-s-boredom/)

[Rodney Yee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rodney-yee/)

[Browse all 1,505 Boredom quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/boredom/)

```json
{
    "@context": "https://schema.org",
    "@graph": [
        {
            "@type": "Quotation",
            "text": "“Everyone thinks that being in a war is nothing but non-stop action and fighting. I thought that too before I came here. It is actually ninety percent boredom mixed with ten percent shitting your pants, and there is absolutely nothing in between.”",
            "creator": {
                "@type": "Person",
                "name": "Bryan A. Wood"
            },
            "isPartOf": {
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website"
            },
            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bryan-a-wood/everyone-thinks-that-being-in-a-war-is-nothing-but-non-stop-action/",
            "about": {
                "@type": "Thing",
                "name": "Boredom"
            },
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bryan-a-wood/everyone-thinks-that-being-in-a-war-is-nothing-but-non-stop-action/#quotation",
            "image": {
                "@type": "ImageObject",
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/43d/bryan-a-wood-66262_boredom_everyone-thinks-that-being-in-a-war-is-n_2283846.jpg",
                "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/43d/bryan-a-wood-66262_boredom_everyone-thinks-that-being-in-a-war-is-n_2283846.jpg",
                "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/43d/bryan-a-wood-66262_boredom_everyone-thinks-that-being-in-a-war-is-n_2283846.jpg",
                "width": 1080,
                "height": 1080,
                "caption": "“Everyone thinks that being in a war is nothing but non-stop action and fighting. I thought that too before I…” — Bryan A. Wood",
                "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes",
                "creator": {
                    "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization"
                }
            }
        },
        {
            "@type": "BreadcrumbList",
            "itemListElement": [
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 1,
                    "name": "Home",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/"
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 2,
                    "name": "Quotes",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/"
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 3,
                    "name": "Bryan A. Wood",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bryan-a-wood/"
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 4,
                    "name": "“Everyone thinks that being in a...",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bryan-a-wood/everyone-thinks-that-being-in-a-war-is-nothing-but-non-stop-action/"
                }
            ],
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bryan-a-wood/everyone-thinks-that-being-in-a-war-is-nothing-but-non-stop-action/#breadcrumb"
        },
        {
            "@type": "WebSite",
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website",
            "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes",
            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/",
            "publisher": {
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization"
            }
        },
        {
            "@type": "Organization",
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization",
            "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes",
            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/",
            "logo": {
                "@type": "ImageObject",
                "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png",
                "width": 512,
                "height": 512
            }
        }
    ]
}
```
