Glenn Wolfer

“The problem in middle life, when the body has reached its climax of power and begins to decline, is to identify yourself not with the body, which is falling away, but with the consciousness of which it is a vehicle. This is something I learned from myths.”
― Joseph Campbell, The Power of Myth

“Láska je přechodné šílenství, vybuchne jako sopka a potom opadne. A když opadne, musíš se rozhodnout. Musíš zjistit, zdali je vaše kořeny propletený takovým způsobem, že váš rozchod není vůbec myslitelný. Protože právě tohle je láska. Láska není ta bezdechnost, není to vzrušení, nejsou to halasné sliby věčné vášně, není to touha pářit se čtyřiadvacet hodin denně a není to, když v noci zůstaneš vzhůru a představuješ si, že líbá každý záhyb tvého těla. Ne, nečervenej se, já ti teď říkám náramné pravdy. To je jenom zamilovanost, to svede každý hlupák. Láska samotná je to, co zbude, když se zamilovanost vyčerpá, a to je jak umění, tak šťastná náhoda. Mně a tvé mamince se to povedlo, měli jsme kořeny, které kdesi v podzemí srostly k sobě, a když nám z větvi opadaly všechny ty krásné květy, zjistili jsme, že jsme jeden strom, ne dva. Ale někdy korunní plátky opadnou a ty zjistíš, že kořeny nesrostly. Představ si, že opustíš domov a svůj lid, jen abys po šesti měsících, roce, třech letech zjistila, že strom tvé lásky nezapustil kořeny a vyvrátil se. Představ si to zoufalství, představ si, jak by tě to dusilo.”
― Louis de Bernières, Corelli’s Mandolin

“Raya knew this type of girl – they never liked her. Usually they’d make fun of her, behind her back, but loud enough for her to hear. She was too alternative, too poor and too cynical – the foster kid – to be of any interest to these social climbers.”
― Sara Pascoe, Being a Witch, and Other Things I Didn't Ask For

“None of them was impressed with Gravel, who at present was their commander. He had, in their eyes, failed them. He had sent Meadows and Downs out on missions that were foredoomed. It wasn’t all his fault, because he was getting pushed around from above, and he had complained about it bitterly and consistently. But part of being a leader was being able to push up as well as down. You didn’t ask men to risk everything on a mission that you did not believe in yourself. Gravel had been doing this now for several days. The men knew when they were being misused. This was the real deal, not some classroom exercise. These were blood decisions. They were the most important ones a military commander is asked to make. If you knew more because of where you were and what you saw, then you stood your ground. You didn’t just protest; if need be, you refused. You put your judgment on the line. This might destroy your career—hell, it would certainly destroy your career—but you accepted that, because whatever happened to you, your career, your reputation, these were minor things by comparison. Lives were at stake. A real leader knew his responsibility was not first and foremost to himself; it was to his men, and the mission. What mattered in combat, what really mattered, was not only understanding why you asked men to risk their lives, but making them understand. Men would willingly risk their lives, but they needed to know that it counted. And they needed to know they had a chance. If the commander believed those things himself, he could convince his men. The problem here was that neither the young company commanders nor Gravel held that belief.”
― Mark Bowden, Huế 1968: A Turning Point of the American War in Vietnam