A true war story is never moral. It does not instruct, nor encourage virtue, nor suggest models of proper human behavior, nor restrain men from doing the things men have always done. If a story seems moral, do not believe it. If at the end of a war story you feel uplifted, or if you feel that some small bit of rectitude has been salvaged from the larger waste, then you have been the victim of a very old and terrible lie

Tim O'Brien (b. 1946) American novelist, journalist, veteran
The Things They Carried

 
Added on 1-Feb-04 | Last updated 1-Feb-04
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