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“As products of a biblic culture, most veterans believed it is nobler to strive to be like God than to want to be human. However, all of our virtues come from not being gods: Generosity is meaningless to a god, who never suffers shortage or want; courage is meaningless to a god, who is immortal and can never suffer permanent injury; and so on. Our virtues and our dignity arise from our mortality, our humanity -- and not from any success in being God. The godlike berserk state can destroy the capacity for virtue.”
― Achilles in Vietnam: Combat Trauma and the Undoing of Character
― Achilles in Vietnam: Combat Trauma and the Undoing of Character
“Major recovery, however, requires that personal narrative be particular, not general. The friends who died in Vietnam were not friends in general but particular human beings. The survivors who lost them are also particular human beings, and they must be given permission by the community to speak without fear that their particularity will rupture the we-all-went-through-the-same-thing support that they have come to rely upon. In a fully realized personal narrative the survivor grips the herald's staff and speaks as himself.”
― Achilles in Vietnam: Combat Trauma and the Undoing of Character
― Achilles in Vietnam: Combat Trauma and the Undoing of Character
Lydia’s 2025 Year in Books
Take a look at Lydia’s Year in Books, including some fun facts about their reading.
266 books
|
8 friends
202 books
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5 friends
1,852 books
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11 friends
1,656 books
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17 friends
1,015 books
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25 friends
242 books
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24 friends
99 books
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2 friends
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