You wouldn’t 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.
Joseph HellerRead
I’m not running away from my responsibilities. I’m running to them. There’s nothing negative about running away to save my life.
Interpretation
What this quote means
This quote emphasizes the importance of confronting one's responsibilities, even if it means taking drastic measures for self-preservation.
Joseph Heller's quote reflects a perspective that running away from a challenging situation can actually be a proactive move towards embracing one's responsibilities. It suggests that sometimes, the best way to deal with life's pressures and demands is to shift one’s approach, highlighting the notion that self-preservation and facing one's obligations can coexist meaningfully.
Themes
ResponsibilitySelf-PreservationCourageChangePositivity
In practice
Example use cases
This quote can be shared during a motivational speech about facing challenges in life.
More from Joseph Heller
All quotes →History 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.
Joseph HellerRead
The enemy is anybody who's going to get you killed, no matter which side he's on.
Joseph HellerRead
He had decided to live forever or die in the attempt.
Joseph HellerRead
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.
Joseph HellerRead
The country was in peril; he was jeopardizing his traditional rights of freedom and independence by daring to exercise them.
Joseph HellerRead
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The time to take counsel of your fears is before you make an important battle decision. That's the time to listen to every fear you can imagine! When you have collected all the facts and fears and made your decision, turn off all your fears and go ahead!
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I became convinced that noncooperation with evil is as much a moral obligation as is cooperation with good. No other person has been more eloquent and passionate in getting this idea across than Henry David Thoreau. As a result of his writings and personal witness, we are the heirs of a legacy of creative protest.
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Be as bold as the first man or [woman] to eat an oyster.
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