Fritz Kreisler Quotes

Anyone who experienced World War I close-hand was grossed out by it forever. It just was so awful.

Grunts on the line, where the enemy wants them dead, still goof off - even knowing that by letting their guard down they might die.

I don't know if it's a male thing, but I've always been interested in how people respond to the stresses and dangers of war, how they react under fire.

When I was in the war, I was lucky that I was in a plane and never saw the carnage close-up.

When you go to war as a boy, you have a great illusion of immortality. Other people get killed, not you... Then, when you are badly wounded the first time, you lose that illusion, and you know it can happen to you.

That's driven by any number of factors, the most prominent of which have been the combat experience of two major campaigns - one in Afghanistan and the other in Iraq - and the ongoing demands of the global war on terrorism.

Everyone knows what can happen to soldiers who are in front line units.

Life was so cheap in Vietnam. That is where my sense of urgency comes from.

The overall physical demand that Iraq has is pretty amazing. It's 130 degrees, and the soldiers are carrying about 100 pounds of extra gear. It's a pretty rigorous schedule and routine for them.

Bad as was being shot by some of our own troops in the battle of the Wilderness, - that was an honest mistake, one of the accidents of war, - being shot at, since the war, by many officers, was worse.

I understood that 'The Yellow Birds' would be a peculiar representation of the experience of being at war. I intended it to be so.

Combat stress isn't the only problem for soldiers isolated in Iraq - there are family issues, re-integration issues when soldiers go home on leave, loneliness.

When I read the script of 'The Wall,' I saw how much different the war looks from the point of view of a soldier fighting it.

There's this romantic idea that's built up around war. But the pragmatic view is there are tons of people of my generation who have lost their lives, lost their marriages, or lost their health as a consequence of being sent to wars which could have been avoided.

I wonder why I don't go to bed and go to sleep. But then it would be tomorrow, so I decide that no matter how tired, no matter how incoherent I am, I can skip on hour more of sleep and live.

I used to work, like, for 16 hours a day, or sometimes 24 hours.

As we face an epidemic of veteran suicides, we must make sure that all of our returning servicemembers are honored and taken care of, no matter the wounds they bear.

I don't want to be the guy who, 'Oh, he's falling apart. He's a little punchy. Maybe it's time to stop.'

Veterans want the choice to use age-old practices like yoga, meditation and acupuncture, but they should also benefit from scientific advances like detecting the biomarkers that will allow us to better treat the invisible wounds of war.

My fight-or-flight mechanism... had served me well in Gaza, in Afghanistan, and all the places I'd been.

I think 'American Sniper' is anti-war. It demonstrates the agony of the decision-making that goes on.

I did not know that the wounds of war are often invisible.

There were 10 to 12 years where I averaged two to three hours of sleep a night. There were times when I didn't go to sleep for two days, but I'd usually crash one Sunday a month for 16 to 18 straight hours, and then I'd be rejuvenated.

When you're in the military, you teeter on the edge of that line of life and death. The reason you feel so alive when you come through is because you know you've cheated death - and that and the adrenaline rush is addictive, no question.

I didn't do anything special after the French Open, after winning the tournament. I just had a nice dinner with my team and family, but I was so exhausted that I went to sleep early and couldn't stay up.