Traditional Albanian society was based on a clan system and was further divided into brotherhoods and bajraks. The bajrak system identified a local leader, called a bajrakar, who could be counted on to provide a certain number of men for military duty.

Bad news is dramatic. It makes good TV. If there's a firefight on the same day that a school opens up, the media will show the firefight even though the school is way more important and will affect the community for much longer.

Firemen don't talk about whether a burning warehouse is worth saving.

How do men act on a sinking ship? Do they hold each other? Do they pass around the whisky? Do they cry?

I’ve stopped war reporting. I realized that I’d answered all of my questions about war and about myself.

Maybe the ultimate wound is the one that makes you miss the war you got it in.

War is a lot of things and it's useless to pretend that exciting isn't one of them. (pg. 144)