--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: It's like they say about soldiers coming…" description: "\"“It's like they say about soldiers coming back from war. People all around you are dying. Really dying, Eric. You go in for a week's chemotherapy and y..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5ab/steven-hall-13492_cancer_it-s-like-they-say-about-soldiers-coming_718127.jpg" --- # It's like they say about soldiers coming back from war… ![“It's like they say about soldiers coming back from war. People all around you are dying. Really dying, Eric. You go in for a week's chemotherapy and you're in a ward with people who are really, actually dying, there and then and doing their best to come to terms with it. When the week's up, you go…” quote by Steven Hall](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5ab/steven-hall-13492_cancer_it-s-like-they-say-about-soldiers-coming_718127.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5ab/steven-hall-13492_cancer_it-s-like-they-say-about-soldiers-coming_718127.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5ab/steven-hall-13492_cancer_it-s-like-they-say-about-soldiers-coming_718127.jpg) > ““It's like they say about soldiers coming back from war. People all around you are dying. Really dying, Eric. You go in for a week's chemotherapy and you're in a ward with people who are really, actually dying, there and then and doing their best to come to terms with it. When the week's up, you go home and you see your family and your friends and everything's normal and familiar. It's too much. You think - one world can't possibly hold both these lives and you feel like you're going to go crazy when you realise the world is that big and it can fill with the most terrible things whenever it wants to.”” [Steven Hall](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steven-hall/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Facing death and normalcy together creates overwhelming cognitive dissonance, challenging mental stability. **In simple terms:** Death and normal life clash, causing stress. Key Takeaway Seek balance between confronting mortality and daily life. Themes mortality cognitive dissonance mental health Mood somber reflective Type psychological inspirational When to use this quote - healthcare work - family life - grief counseling Key Concepts existential crisis psychological resilience Questions to Reflect On - How do you integrate trauma into everyday life? - What coping strategies help maintain sanity? A Different Perspective May not apply to those without trauma exposure. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Cancer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/cancer/) [Chemotherapy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/chemotherapy/) [Death](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/death/) [Remission](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/remission/) [Sickness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sickness/) [War](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/war/) ## Related quotes > [I had to lose weight because I was dying. 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Then you go into chemotherapy.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/denis-leary/most-people-think-life-sucks-and-then-you-die-i-disagree-i-think-life/) [Denis Leary](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/denis-leary/) > [“Whether you are shivering with cold or too hot, sleepy or wide awake, spoken well of or badly, dying, or doing anything else, do…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcus-aurelius/whether-you-are-shivering-with-cold-or-too-hot-sleepy-or-wide-awake/) [Marcus Aurelius](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcus-aurelius/) > [Those who give the orders are not the ones to die The people who are doing the work and the fighting and the dying,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/katherine-anne-porter/those-who-give-the-orders-are-not-the-ones-to-die-the-people-who-are/) [Katherine Anne Porter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/katherine-anne-porter/) > [What is a fear of living? It's being preeminently afraid of dying. It is not doing what you came here to do, out of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maya-angelou/what-is-a-fear-of-living-it-s-being-preeminently-afraid-of-dying-it/) [Maya Angelou](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maya-angelou/) > [People say 'Are you going to retire?' To me, that sort of equates with lying down and dying. When you're doing something you love…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rolf-harris/people-say-are-you-going-to-retire-to-me-that-sort-of-equates-with/) [Rolf Harris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rolf-harris/) > [“Dying means living. Living means dying. Doing means trying. Laughing is smiling. Dreaming isn't buying. Living includes crying.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anyomous/dying-means-living-living-means-dying-doing-means-trying-laughing-is/) Anyomous > [Important thing is not the me that's lying here, but the me that's sitting on the edge of the bed looking back at me,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ray-bradbury/important-thing-is-not-the-me-that-s-lying-here-but-the-me-that-s/) [Ray Bradbury](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ray-bradbury/) > [“It's that in between time Nothing really growing And nothing really dying”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-l-ratliff/it-s-that-in-between-time-nothing-really-growing-and-nothing-really/) [Richard L. Ratliff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-l-ratliff/) > [I'm not really dying today. No person ever died that had a family. I'll be around a long time. A thousand years from now,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ray-bradbury/i-m-not-really-dying-today-no-person-ever-died-that-had-a-family-i-ll/) [Ray Bradbury](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ray-bradbury/) > [I may try to act happy all the time, but on the inside I'm really dying… I need someone to be there for me.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lexi-baibee/i-may-try-to-act-happy-all-the-time-but-on-the-inside-i-m-really/) Lexi\_Baibee > [“Really, really there is no dying for us. Remember?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/art-hochberg/really-really-there-is-no-dying-for-us-remember/) [Art Hochberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/art-hochberg/) > [“How do you kill yourself without really dying? Love someone who doesn't love you back.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mr-joshua-shaw/how-do-you-kill-yourself-without-really-dying-love-someone-who-doesn/) [Mr. Joshua Shaw](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mr-joshua-shaw/) > [Europeans are really dying out!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vladimir-putin/europeans-are-really-dying-out/) [Vladimir Putin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vladimir-putin/) ## More by Steven Hall > [Texas has no system in place, and what you have is chaos.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steven-hall/texas-has-no-system-in-place-and-what-you-have-is-chaos/) [Steven Hall](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steven-hall/) > [Longhand isn't well suited to my way of writing. I tend to end up with dozens of pages of crossings-out and margin scribbles just…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steven-hall/longhand-isn-t-well-suited-to-my-way-of-writing-i-tend-to-end-up-with/) [Steven Hall](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steven-hall/) > [I'd love a signed first edition of 'City of Glass' by Paul Auster. My favourite book of all time.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steven-hall/i-d-love-a-signed-first-edition-of-city-of-glass-by-paul-auster-my/) [Steven Hall](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steven-hall/) > [“A movement unlocked my attention. I re-focused my eyes, looking past the vodka glass and into the static buzz of the TV. I stayed…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steven-hall/a-movement-unlocked-my-attention-i-re-focused-my-eyes-looking-past/) [Steven Hall](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steven-hall/) > [“But I’m old now and Ward has made himself rich and powerful. 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'Somebody's superglued my joints.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steven-hall/ouch-she-mumbles-somebody-s-superglued-my-joints/) [Steven Hall](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steven-hall/) > [“Just tell me i'm not dreaming?" maybe you are," she said. "Probably you are." I don't want to be. Clio, i can't do this…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steven-hall/just-tell-me-i-m-not-dreaming-maybe-you-are-she-said-probably-you-are/) [Steven Hall](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steven-hall/) > [The calmer and more well-ordered my desktop is, the more I can convince myself I'm on top of things.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steven-hall/the-calmer-and-more-well-ordered-my-desktop-is-the-more-i-can/) [Steven Hall](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steven-hall/) > [Especially in quail hunting, where the hunter is so focused on the bird that it makes everything else blurry. 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If you ignore cancer, it simply metastasizes and consumes the whole body.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/daryl-davis/racism-is-a-cancer-you-cannot-ignore-it-and-it-ll-go-away-if-you/) [Daryl Davis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/daryl-davis/) > [Historically, more people have died of religion than cancer.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dick-francis/historically-more-people-have-died-of-religion-than-cancer/) [Dick Francis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dick-francis/) > [“Our kind of love can go into remission, but it's always waiting to return. Like the world sweetest cancer.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gillian-flynn/our-kind-of-love-can-go-into-remission-but-it-s-always-waiting-to/) [Gillian Flynn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gillian-flynn/) > [Bollywood is a cancer.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/victor-banerjee/bollywood-is-a-cancer/) [Victor Banerjee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/victor-banerjee/) > [You should be angry. You must not be bitter. 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Koch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-h-koch/) [Browse all 3,177 Cancer quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/cancer/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“It's like they say about soldiers coming back from war. People all around you are dying. Really dying, Eric. You go in for a week's chemotherapy and you're in a ward with people who are really, actually dying, there and then and doing their best to come to terms with it. When the week's up, you go home and you see your family and your friends and everything's normal and familiar. It's too much. 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