In the military I could exercise the power of being automatically respected because of the medals on my chest, not because I had done anything right at the moment to earn that respect. This is pretty nice. It's also a psychological trap that can stop one's growth and allow one to get away with just plain bad behavior.
Karl MarlantesHow could you get mad at someone who neither needed to attack nor was at all worried about being able to defend? It was like getting mad at Switzerland.
Karl MarlantesIt won't hurt you. It's just to kill plants. It's called Agent Orange...and it won't bother humans.
Karl MarlantesReally important books to me are the classics. I try very hard to read them well - you know, especially once I got serious about writing.
Karl MarlantesWe all want to be special, to stand out; there's nothing wrong with this. The irony is that every human being is special to start with, because we're unique to start with. But we then go through some sort of boot camp from the age of zero to about 18 where we learn everything we can about how not to be unique.
Karl Marlantes