I could feel my moral compass as a soldier, in danger of - I could feel the squeeze, the pressure of frustration and anger and fear combining on me... I felt the danger; I felt the squeeze of it. Tim O'Brien angercombinecompass Change image and share on social
A bullet can kill the enemy, but a bullet can also produce an enemy, depending on whom that bullet strikes. Tim O'Brien bulletdependenemy Change image and share on social
I returned to Vietnam in '94, and even then, all those decades later, walking around that place, I remained afraid. And, in some ways, rightly so. Tim O'Brien afraiddecadeplace Change image and share on social
Everyone acts stupid at some time in order to be loved. Tim O'Brien actloveorder Change image and share on social
If you stop loving someone, did you ever love them? If you say you're committed and later you're not committed, well, was the first thing commitment? You see what I mean? This kind of thing has always interested me. Tim O'Brien commitcommitmentinterest share on social
Pinkville was called Pinkville because in the military maps, it was shaded a bright kind of shimmering pink, which signified what was called on the maps a 'built up' area, which was extremely misleading - 'built up' only meant there were little villages and it wasn't just desolate paddy land or unpopulated. Tim O'Brien areabrightbuild share on social
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'Brien easyfailurefiction Change image and share on social
When you're so close to material, it would be as if you had come out of a bad marriage. You would be so close to it that you would be paying attention to detail that may not mean a whole lot for the reader. Tim O'Brien attentionbadclose share on social
If I see a phrase that strikes me as ugly, I'll delete it. Or, if I find a way to say something a bit more freshly than it was expressed originally, I'll do it. Ultimately, you want to try to leave behind the best possible paragraph or sentence. Tim O'Brien bitedeleteexpress share on social
It's very hard to articulate the things that are important about writing. Tim O'Brien articulatehardimportant Change image and share on social