The wars don't end when you sign peace treaties or when the years go by. They will echo on until I'm gone and all the widows and orphans are gone.
Tim O'BrienRead
In a war without aim, you tend not to aim. You close your eyes, close your heart. The consequences become hit or miss in the most literal sense.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote emphasizes the importance of purpose and direction; without them, one cannot fully engage or commit.
Tim O'Brien's quote reflects on the significance of having a clear aim or objective, especially in challenging situations like war. It suggests that when faced with aimlessness, individuals may become emotionally detached and lose the ability to make meaningful decisions, leading to unpredictable and careless outcomes.
Themes
AimPurposeWarConsequencesDetachment
In practice
Example use cases
This quote can be used in a speech about the importance of setting goals in life.
More from Tim O'Brien
All quotes β...you find yourself studying the fine colors on the river, you feel wonder and awe at the setting of the sun, and you are filled with a hard, aching love for how the world could be and always should be, but now is not.
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Unlike Chicago or New York, small-town Minnesota did not allow a man's failings to disappear beneath a veil of numbers. People talked. Secrets did not stay secret.
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Place is so important to me. The Midwest is like a ghost in my life. It's present as I look out the window now. I see Texas, but if I close my eyes and look out the same window, I'm back in my hometown in Worthington, Minnesota, and I cherish those values and that diction.
Tim O'BrienRead
In fiction workshops, we tend to focus on matters of verisimilitude largely because such issues are so much easier to talk about than the failure of imagination.
Tim O'BrienRead
War is a fundamental aspect of human existence. It's good to know what war entails and what the human sacrifice is.
Tim O'BrienRead
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