Phil Klay Quotes

Phil Klay
Phil Klay
American Writer
Born: 1983
Experience Me Military People War You
Related authors: Dale Carnegie Denis Waitley Dr. Seuss H. L. Mencken Napoleon Hill Ray Bradbury W. E. B. Du Bois William Arthur Ward
Resilience is, of course, necessary for a warrior. But a lack of empathy isn't. Phil Klay
Warrior Empathy Course Lack Necessary Resilience
I don't want to act as though my deployment was particularly rough, because it wasn't. I had a very mild deployment; I was a staff officer. Phil Klay
Though Had Particularly Because Very Officer Staff Want Deployment Act Mild Rough
A lot of the great pieces of journalism from Iraq showed how important command influence was in violent, aggressive environments, where Marines and soldiers had a constrained set of choices to make in sudden moments. Phil Klay
Great Important Aggressive Marines Soldiers Constrained Had Journalism Environments Pieces Make How Command Iraq Lot Influence Where Choices Moments Sudden Violent Set
I got to travel around Anbar Province, had a great group of Marines who worked for me who traveled around Anbar Province. I got to hang out with a lot of different types of Marines and soldiers and sailors. Phil Klay
Great Me Travel Group Marines Types Soldiers Out Had Around Got Sailors Lot Province Hang Different Worked Who Traveled Different Types
Bombs do very, very bad things to human bodies. It's incredibly shocking to see. Phil Klay
Bad Things Incredibly Bad See Very Shocking Human Bodies Bombs Things
It's not a problem to be surrounded by other writers if that's the craft that you're doing. I suppose if you get obsessed with the notion of being a writer more than the writing itself, that would be bad. But I live near really smart, thoughtful people who take writing very seriously, and I can meet them for breakfast and talk books. Phil Klay
You People Writing Problem Smart Seriously Breakfast Live Other Meet Books Thoughtful Thoughtful People Bad Would Would-Be More Writer Take Writers Obsessed Suppose Talk Doing Surrounded Itself Very Than Get Craft Being Them Really Notion Who Near
I've been asked what differentiates war literature as a category, and I don't think there is anything. Phil Klay
War Think Category Been Anything Literature Asked
I always wrote - not about war, necessarily, but I always wrote stories. I tried to write while I was in Iraq. It's not really - I didn't do a very good job, and not about war. Phil Klay
War Good Good Job Job Tried About Write Wrote Always Iraq Very Stories While Really Necessarily
A great writer is a great writer... Tolstoy was not a woman, but 'Anna Karenina' is still a pretty good book. Phil Klay
Good Great Woman Book Pretty Pretty Good Writer Anna Great Writer Still Good Book Tolstoy
One of the things that's difficult for people to understand is when you join the military, you don't sign up as an endorsement of any particular policy of the moment. Phil Klay
You People Military Difficult Sign One Of The Things Join Particular Policy Understand Up Any Endorsement Moment Things
Writing fiction was a way to take the ideas that troubled me or confused me and put them under pressure. Phil Klay
Me Writing Confused Pressure Way Troubled Take Put Ideas Fiction Them
At least for me, writing a book is continual exposure to blind spots. There were things I wanted to be true and wanted to believe, but it always got more complicated in the fiction. Phil Klay
Me Book Writing Complicated Be True Believe More True Blind Spots Always Got Least Were Fiction Wanted Exposure Things
I went straight from the Marine Corps to the MFA. The way that you would express things among Marines is somewhat different than the way you're supposed to express things in a creative-writing workshop. Phil Klay
You Marine Corps Marines Way Corps Would Somewhat Supposed Than Different Straight Workshop Express Among Things Marine
There's a tradition of public service in my family. I'm one of three boys that joined the military. My father was in the Peace Corps. Phil Klay
Service Family Peace Father Three Military Corps Joined Boy Tradition Public Peace Corps Public Service
With fiction, you can take something that bothers you, or that you don't have in clear focus, and you can put it under as much stress as you want. Really get underneath the skin. With nonfiction, you're restricted to what happened. Phil Klay
You Stress Focus Skin Restricted Something Bothers Take Put Clear Underneath Nonfiction Get Want Fiction Happened Much Really
Certainly, my exposure in high school to writers like Flannery O'Connor, Shusaku Endo, Fyodor Dostoevsky and Graham Greene was formative. Phil Klay
School High High School Writers Like Graham Graham Greene Formative Certainly Exposure
I did try to write in Iraq, and I failed. I think you just don't have the brain space for it. Phil Klay
You Try Space Think Write Failed Brain Iraq Did Just
War is complicated and intense, and it takes time and thoughts to understand what it was. Phil Klay
War Time Thoughts Complicated Takes Understand Intense
I have, for a very long time, been a huge admirer of Marilynne Robinson, whose work I just love. Phil Klay
Work Love Time Long Long Time Admirer Robinson Been Huge Very Very Long Time Just Whose
Fiction is the best way I know how to think something through. Phil Klay
Best Think Way Best Way Something Through Know How Fiction
You come back from war, and you have a certain authority to talk about war. Phil Klay
War You Back About Come Talk Authority Certain
In a strange way, you have to have a certain amount of distance from a thing in order to be able to write about it. Phil Klay
You Strange Distance Way Able About Write Order Certain Strange Way Thing Amount
Writing 'Redeployment' shook me in ways I never expected. Phil Klay
Me Writing Ways Never Shook Expected
Supposedly, going to war initiates you into this gnostic priesthood of people who've had a liminal experience forever separating them from civilians. Except... you go there, and it is what it is. A form of human activity as varied as any other. Phil Klay
War You Experience People Priesthood It Is What It Is Other Varied Civilians Except Had Supposedly Go Forever Any Going Human Human Activity Form Them Separating Activity
We're so used to using military terminology in civilian speech that we forget those terms might mean something very specific. Phil Klay
Military Those Something Civilian Terminology Terms Very Forget Mean Might Used Using Specific Speech
'Redeployment' is a military term. It means to transfer a unit from one area to another. Phil Klay
Military One Area Area Term Another Transfer Means Unit
Load more quotes

No more Phil Klay quotes

Haven't find the right quote? Try quotes from authors related to Phil Klay.

About
Site pages
Top Quotes
Authors
Today's birthdays
Copyright © Quotesia 2024