Quotessence
Home / Authors / Richard Engel
Richard Engel

Richard Engel Quotes

Journalist

Filter quotes by topic

AllWar CorrespondentJournalismIraqWar ZoneIraq WarJournalistMiddle East ConflictSyriaPeopleSyrian Civil WarThinkingAlsKnowsNationsRadicalUs PolicyWarAbleAfghanistanAgree

Famous Richard Engel Quotes

“From seven hundred journalists at the beginning of March, the number had dwindled to about one hundred and fifty—print reporters, TV correspondents, photographers, cameramen, and support personnel. At the press center I encountered Kazem, who only a week before I had asked for help with my visa. “Why are you staying when everyone else is leaving?” he asked. I took a chance and replied in Arabic. Some journalists, I said, are as samid as the Iraqi people. Samid means “steadfast” and “brave” and is the adjective most often used by Iraqis to describe themselves. Kazem laughed and threw his arm around my shoulder.”

IraqJournalismIraq WarWar Correspondent
Book:And Then All Hell Broke Loose: Two Decades in the Middle East
Create image

“The bombing started up again, with explosions all around us, in broad daylight, but no one in the restaurant even flinched. Iraqis seemed numb after a quarter century under Saddam’s whip-hand rule. It was heartbreaking to see what a harsh dictatorship can do to the human soul. In less than a week, I had grown almost inured to explosions and fires.”

IraqIraq WarWar Correspondent
Book:And Then All Hell Broke Loose: Two Decades in the Middle East
Create image

“I may have been in stage four, but I wasn’t completely crazy. At least eighty-six journalists had been killed in Iraq, more than in any other conflict since World War II, and another thirty-eight had been taken hostage. More would die in the years to come. I knew I had to limit my movements and take special care when I did go out.”

JournalismIraq WarWar Correspondent
Book:And Then All Hell Broke Loose: Two Decades in the Middle East
Create image