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Barbara Nickless Quotes

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Famous Barbara Nickless Quotes

“Trust in God, but tether your camel well. -- Arabic saying”

Book:Ambush

Source: Ambush

“There are good and bad people on both sides of a conflict. The trick is in figuring out which is which. And who is working for whom.”

People Conflict Good Bad

Book:Ambush

Source: Ambush

“Before the bomb hits, there comes a shriek that splits your soul.”

Book:Ambush

Source: Ambush

“The bad guys don't wear signs. And all of us are only human.”

Book:Blood on the Tracks

Source: Blood on the Tracks

“You get to the point where you're just empty. Empty of feelings and thoughts. Of bone and flesh and blood. Empty of hope and despair. You aren't dead. But you aren't living, either.”

Death Living Empty Dead

Book:Dead Stop

Source: Dead Stop

“Home is where you stand on the front porch and wonder which would be worse. To go inside. Or to walk away.”

Book:Dead Stop

Source: Dead Stop

“The only way you feel safe in a relationship is if you feel free to leave it.”

Book:Ambush

Source: Ambush

“Marines don't cry.”

Book:Ambush

Source: Ambush

“A war in five senses. Blood, sweat, tears, dust, pain.”

War Pain Blood Tears Senses Dust

Book:Ambush

Source: Ambush

“I've spent too much of my life trying to leave the past behind. But the past is a leech. Digs its head into you and sucks your blood until it leaves you dry.”

Past Blood Leech

Book:Blood on the Tracks

Source: Blood on the Tracks

“I'd been raised on excuses. But the Marine Corps taught me that excuses don't matter. That excuses--even when prettied up as reasons--are just a way to avoid doing what needs doing.”

Excuses Reasons

Book:Dead Stop

Source: Dead Stop

“We were the marines the other Marines avoided. The pariahs, the bad-luck charms. The ones no one wanted to risk being near. As if we didn't just process death. As if we brought it.”

Death Bad Luck Marines Pariah

Book:Ambush

Source: Ambush

“I've killed people. I've tortured people. Sometimes under orders. Sometimes to stay alive. I need to be clear on this, Sydney. So you know who I am.”

Killed Tortured

Book:Ambush

Source: Ambush

“Her husband had come home a hero. But he'd also come home with memory issues, a limp, PTSD, and a huge ration of cynicism that he hadn't had before.”

Hero Memory Cynicism Veteran Ptsd

Book:Ambush

Source: Ambush

“Kids. I lowered my phone. Closed my eyes. Planted my feet and started the slow breathing my VA counselor had taught me. One... I'd been doing well. Exercising. Eating healthy. Two... maybe drinking too much. Okay, definitely drinking too much. But... three... nothing worse. Not even cigarettes. Going to every brutal therapy session and doing as I was told... four... with the faith that eventually it would make things better instead of worse. Five. I opened my eyes. “We're still good,” I whispered. Say it till it’s true.”

Book:Dead Stop

Source: Dead Stop

“But if there's anything I've learned, it's that life will explode one land mine after another, even when all you're trying to do is walk from the couch to the refrigerator.”

Life Explode Land Mine

Book:Ambush

Source: Ambush

“Don't be afraid of the ugly in your past. The trauma. The failures and mistakes. The what-ifs and the what-the-hell-was-I-thinking and the times someone broke your heart. They're over and done with, a pile of bones you can use to stand tall. - Peter Hayes, Clinical Therapist, VA Hospital”

Past Trauma Mistakes Failures

Book:Ambush

Source: Ambush

“Most of us--maybe all of us--are broken in some way. Depending on who we are, those cracks can either let in the darkness or the light.”

Light Darkness Broken

Book:Ambush

Source: Ambush