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

“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

“There are no heroes, Tian Haoli. Grand Secretary Shi was both courageous and cowardly, capable and foolish. Wang Xiuchu was both an opportunistic survivor and a man of greatness of spirit. I’m mostly selfish and vain, but sometimes even I surprise myself. We’re all just ordinary men—well, I’m an ordinary demon—faced with extraordinary choices. In those moments, sometimes heroic ideals demand that we become their avatars.”
― Ken Liu, quote from The Paper Menagerie and Other Stories

“A TELEPHONE YOWLED in Chris’s ear, and he scrabbled at his side for a sword that wasn’t there.”
― K.M. Weiland, quote from Dreamlander

“Literal language, by contrast, is the means whereby the mind loosens its contact with reality and becomes a self-consistent system of tokens. But,”
― quote from The Master and His Emissary: The Divided Brain and the Making of the Western World

“So, um, what is your name?”
“Oh, that’s funny that you don’t know! Well, maybe it’s not. I’ve always gone by Jones here, even before I was a counselor. You don’t want to guess?”
“Rumpelstiltskin,” I say, which makes him burst out laughing.”
― Emery Lord, quote from The Names They Gave Us

“To Engage a Child’s Cooperation 1. DESCRIBE WHAT YOU SEE, OR DESCRIBE THE PROBLEM. “There’s a wet towel on the bed.” 2. GIVE INFORMATION. “The towel is getting my blanket wet.” 3. SAY IT WITH A WORD. “The towel!” 4. DESCRIBE WHAT YOU FEEL. “I don’t like sleeping in a wet bed!” 5. WRITE A NOTE. (above towel rack) Please put me back so I can dry.           Thanks!           Your Towel”
― Adele Faber, quote from How to Talk So Teens Will Listen and Listen So Teens Will Talk

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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.

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