I don't think people would climb mountains or jump off bridges with parachutes or kayak Class V rapids if those things didn't offer the brief and horrible illusion of imminent death. They would just be complicated, time-consuming endeavors that we'd steer well clear of because they got in the way of real life.
Sebastian JungerAn adventure is a situation where the outcome is not entirely within your control. It is up to fate, in other words
Sebastian JungerA grenade launcher will easily take out a tank; a Molotov cocktail placed in its air intake will destroy one as well.
Sebastian JungerRight now, America doesn't ask us to do anything besides pay taxes. We don't even have to vote. But as psychologists will tell you, when you have to sacrifice for something, you value it more. What about national service for young people? Everybody between 18 and 24 could spend a year or two working for this country in some capacity. It'd be an amazing thing. And it would mix this country racially, culturally, economically.
Sebastian JungerHow do men act on a sinking ship? Do they hold each other? Do they pass around the whisky? Do they cry?
Sebastian JungerHere's an easy way to see if a war movie is being truthful: If you see an explosion on a faraway hillside and the sound of the explosion and the detonation of the bomb happen at the same time - if they're putting the sound and the vision together in the same moment - they're going toward our cultural understanding of war, not the reality of war.
Sebastian Junger