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.
Similar quotes
We have not journeyed all this way because we are made of sugar candy.
It takes a lot more courage to let something go than it does to hang on to it, trying to make it better. Letting go doesn't mean ignoring a situation. Letting go means accepting what is, exactly as it is, without fear, resistance, or a struggle for control.
Cowards only sin, brave men never, no, not even in mind.
What makes a heroine? I think I can answer that. A heroine is a woman who risks going too far in order to find out how far one can go for a cause greater than herself.
I know that when a fighter is out of the ring for more than two years, when he comes back he isn't the same anymore. Each fighter is different. But each must think, even if something goes wrong, 'I have to make this decision and live with it for the rest of my life.'
There are people whose souls have just withered, people who are willing to go along with anything evil - anything so as not to be suspected of disagreeing with whoever is in power.