Of the primary emotions, fear is the one that bears most directly on survival. Children show fear. Adults try not to, maybe because it's shameful, or, in some circumstances, dangerous. The fear response is automatic, though, and your body runs through its reflexes whether you want it to or not.
Sebastian JungerWar is a lot of things and it's useless to pretend that exciting isn't one of them. (pg. 144)
Sebastian JungerHow do men act on a sinking ship? Do they hold each other? Do they pass around the whisky? Do they cry?
Sebastian JungerThere's no reason to do anything twice, and certainly no reason to do something that almost killed you.
Sebastian JungerEach 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 who doesn't make that in a lifetime is somehow so outrageous it almost makes the war seem winnable.
Sebastian JungerSoldiers join the military to serve their country, but when bullets are flying, it's hard to fight for an abstract notion like patriotism. They're fighting for the people standing next to them, and it doesn't matter who's a Republican or a Democrat, or who's black or white or Christian or Muslim or gay or straight. If Congress and all Americans could manage to ignore those differences, we would have a perfect country, but somehow we cannot rise to that level of nobility.
Sebastian Junger