Quotes from Emergency Sex (And Other Desperate Measures): True Stories from a War Zone

352 pages

Rating: (3.1K votes)


“I'm not ready to let the youthful part of myself go yet. If maturity means becoming a cynic, if you have to kill the part of yourself that is naive and romantic and idealistic - the part of you that you treasure most - to claim maturity, is it not better to die young but with your humanity intact?”
― quote from Emergency Sex (And Other Desperate Measures): True Stories from a War Zone


“The problem is that no matter how good your intentions, eventually you want to kill someone yourself.”
― quote from Emergency Sex (And Other Desperate Measures): True Stories from a War Zone


“If blue helmeted UN peacekeepers show up in your town or village and offer to protect you, run.”
― quote from Emergency Sex (And Other Desperate Measures): True Stories from a War Zone


“Iwent to school with African-American girls during my entire adolescence in Michigan and never noticed them as potential girlfriends, never even wanted to meet them. How did that happen? I'm nine thousand miles from home and a pernicious wall of segregation I never noticed in high school suddenly materialises. A young man should travel.”
― quote from Emergency Sex (And Other Desperate Measures): True Stories from a War Zone


“At daybreak on the first day, thousands of Cambodians are already calmly waiting outside my polling station. They squat on the ground, silent and patient. We didn't expect this at all. We thought they would fail to understand how democracy works. We thought they would be afraid of the Khmer Rouge. We thought they would passively accept their fate. We were wrong.”
― quote from Emergency Sex (And Other Desperate Measures): True Stories from a War Zone



“I was hell-bent on being an effective humanitarian in Cambodia and Somalia. But a naïve fog is finally lifting. Revealed is a train wreck of illusions, the depravity of someone else's war, the futility of a competence stillborn there. To understand this you have to become this.”
― quote from Emergency Sex (And Other Desperate Measures): True Stories from a War Zone


“I'm not convinced that it's worth it. How many Cambodians ever asked for a $2 billion election? Nighty percent of them are rice farmers. I lived with them, watched them die at the hospital, and never was the word "election" mentioned. That money would repair hundreds of roads and bridges and pay for tons of seed and fertilizer. And clear a lot of landmines.”
― quote from Emergency Sex (And Other Desperate Measures): True Stories from a War Zone


“Israelis are a mix of North African, Levantine, and Eastern European, which inflames the politics but does amazing things for the women.”
― quote from Emergency Sex (And Other Desperate Measures): True Stories from a War Zone


“Meanwhile she's coldly interrogating me with her eyes. She's definitely in charge of this house and this moment. This must be Chloe.

She escorts me to a table full of people and presents me. She introduces them briefly. This one's from Morocco, that one from Italy, he's Persian--I'm not exactly sure what that means--this one's from "the UK." They're all in their twenties, poised and dismissive. They don't know or care who I'm supposed to be at home or where I went to school. They're measuring something else I can't see and don't understand.

They nod and turn back to each other. They seem to be waiting for a cue from Chloe to release them from having to feign interest. She introduces herself at substantially more length. Her father is Chinese and her mother is Swiss; she grew up in Hong Kong and "in Europe."

I grew up in Michigan and in Michigan. But she didn't ask.”
― quote from Emergency Sex (And Other Desperate Measures): True Stories from a War Zone


“If blue-helmeted U.N. peacekeepers show up in your town or village and offer to protect you, run. Or else get weapons. Your lives are worth so much less than theirs.”
― quote from Emergency Sex (And Other Desperate Measures): True Stories from a War Zone



“Be careful, he says, the official US position will be that they refuse to negotiate for hostages, but they may try to enlist the U.N. to do it.”
― quote from Emergency Sex (And Other Desperate Measures): True Stories from a War Zone


“He did well, but he couln't afford the blood for a transfusion.”
― quote from Emergency Sex (And Other Desperate Measures): True Stories from a War Zone


Popular quotes

“The object that was pinning me haplessly to the ground, like a butterfly on a collector's tray, was of twentieth-century origin and of very specific function.
Oh, all right, it was a public lavatory.”
― Jonathan Stroud, quote from Ptolemy's Gate


“It was one of those pictures that children are supposed to like but don't. Full of endearing little animals doing endearing things, you know?”
― Douglas Adams, quote from So Long, and Thanks for All the Fish


“Passion, friendship, love, loyalty, trust . . . if you found the right person . . . you really could have it all.”
― S.C. Stephens, quote from Reckless


“Mona knocked at the wrong time.
“Uh…yeah…wait a minute, Mona -- ”
Mona shouted through the door. “Room service, gentlemen. Just pull the covers up.”
Michael grinned at Jon. “My roommate. Brace yourself.”
Seconds later, Mona burst through the doorway with a tray of coffee and croissants.
“Hi! I’m Nancy Drew! You must be the Hardy Boys!”
― Armistead Maupin, quote from Tales of the City


“The life I walk binds my hands
it makes me take things that I don’t understand I walk this dark world unknowing of what they hold true,
forgetting the me I once knew,
until you.
The life I walk eternally was all I knew nothing more held me here to this earth until you.
I feel the pain of every heart I take I feel the desire to replace all that I have grown to hate Darkness holds me close but the light still draws my empty soul
The emptiness where I used pain to fill the hole no longer controls me, no longer calls me because of you.”
― Abbi Glines, quote from Existence


Interesting books

Heaven and Hell
(17.9K)
Heaven and Hell
by Kristen Ashley
Sons of Fortune
(15.4K)
Sons of Fortune
by Jeffrey Archer
Rise of the Governor
(16.8K)
Rise of the Governor
by Robert Kirkman
Dracula the Un-Dead
(4.6K)
Dracula the Un-Dead
by Dacre Stoker
The Buddha in the Attic
(35.3K)
The Buddha in the At...
by Julie Otsuka
The Annotated Alice: The Definitive Edition
(401.8K)
The Annotated Alice:...
by Lewis Carroll

About BookQuoters

BookQuoters is a community of passionate readers who enjoy sharing the most meaningful, memorable and interesting quotes from great books. As the world communicates more and more via texts, memes and sound bytes, short but profound quotes from books have become more relevant and important. For some of us a quote becomes a mantra, a goal or a philosophy by which we live. For all of us, quotes are a great way to remember a book and to carry with us the author’s best ideas.

We thoughtfully gather quotes from our favorite books, both classic and current, and choose the ones that are most thought-provoking. Each quote represents a book that is interesting, well written and has potential to enhance the reader’s life. We also accept submissions from our visitors and will select the quotes we feel are most appealing to the BookQuoters community.

Founded in 2023, BookQuoters has quickly become a large and vibrant community of people who share an affinity for books. Books are seen by some as a throwback to a previous world; conversely, gleaning the main ideas of a book via a quote or a quick summary is typical of the Information Age but is a habit disdained by some diehard readers. We feel that we have the best of both worlds at BookQuoters; we read books cover-to-cover but offer you some of the highlights. We hope you’ll join us.