You wouldnβt be normal if you were never afraid. Even the bravest men experience fear. One of the biggest jobs we all face in combat is to overcome fear.
He had decided to live forever or die in the attempt.
Interpretation
What this quote means
This quote reflects the determination to pursue an extraordinary goal, regardless of the risks involved.
Joseph Heller's quote highlights the extreme commitment and courage required to chase one's dreams, suggesting that one should be willing to face the ultimate consequences in pursuing a life that is meaningful and fulfilling. It encapsulates the idea that true bravery lies in the willingness to go to great lengths, even to the point of risking everything, for the sake of an ambition or a profound desire to achieve immortality in some form, whether literal or metaphorical.
Themes
In practice
Example use cases
This quote can be used in a motivational speech about pursuing one's dreams no matter the challenges.
More from Joseph Heller
All quotes βHistory did not demand Yossarian's premature demise, justice could be satisfied without it, progress did not hinge upon it, victory did not depend on it. That men would die was a matter of necessity; WHICH men would die, though, was a matter of circumstance, and Yossarian was willing to be the victim of anything but circumstance. But that was war. Just about all he could find in its favor was that it paid well and liberated children from the pernicious influence of their parents.
The enemy is anybody who's going to get you killed, no matter which side he's on.
Hungry Joe collected lists of fatal diseases and arranged them in alphabetical order so that he could put his finger without delay on any one he wanted to worry about.
The country was in peril; he was jeopardizing his traditional rights of freedom and independence by daring to exercise them.
Sure, that's what I mean,' Doc Daneeka said. 'A little grease is what makes this world go round. One hand washes the other. Know what I mean? You scratch my back, I'll scratch yours.' Yossarian knew what he meant. That's not what I meant,' Doc Daneeka said, as Yossarian began scratching his back.
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I'm not proud of killing, of being responsible for the death of a single person. I never will be.
Insurrection is the most sacred of rights and the most indispensable of duties.
Most of the time, when I make a big move, people say I am out of my mind. But I don't think about how I can add to what I have today.
So while I will never minimize the costs involved in military action, I am convinced that a failure to act in Libya would have carried a far greater price for America.
There is only one reason for an individual to side-step to the useless side : the fear of a defeat on the useful side.