Home / Quotes / Quote by Tim O'Brien

Quote by Tim O'Brien

“I want you to feel what I felt. I want you to know why story-truth is truer sometimes than happening-truth.”

Quote by Tim O'Brien

Book:The Things They Carried

Work

The Things They Carried

This poignant collection of short stories explores the lives of soldiers during the Vietnam War, highlighting the physical and emotional toll of their experiences. The characters grapple with the weight of memories, fear, and the enduring impact of their time in combat. more

Author

Tim O'Brien is an American novelist born on October 1, 1946. His works, set against the backdrop of the Vietnam War, explore themes of war and memory through personal experiences and fictional narratives. O'Brien's writing style is unique, utilizing nonlinear storytelling and metafictional techniques. more

You May Also Like

“It was a marvelous night, the sort of night one only experiences when one is young. The sky was so bright, and there were so many stars that, gazing upward, one couldn't help wondering how so many whimsical, wicked people could live under such a sky.”

People Helping Young Night Stars Wonder Sky Wicked Marvelous Gazing Whimsical

Author:Fyodor Dostoevsky

“He wished he could've explained some of this. How he had been braver than he ever thought possible, but how he had not been so brave as he wanted to be. The distinction was important.”

Important Wanted Brave Distinction

Book:The Things They Carried

Source: The Things They Carried

“You don't know. When I'm out there at night I feel close to my own body, I can feel my blood moving, my skin and fingernails, everything, it's like I'm full of electricity and I'm glowing in the dark - I'm on fire almost - I'm burning away into nothing - but it doesn't matter because I know exactly who I am.”

Knows Feels I Can Matter Body Moving Night Dark My Own Fire Blood Skins Who I Am Burning Electricity Glowing Fingernails

Book:The Things They Carried

Source: The Things They Carried

“He had an opinion of himself, I think, that was too high for his own good. Or maybe it was the reverse. Maybe it was a low opinion that he kept trying to erase.”

Thinking Trying Opinion Lows Reverse Erase

Book:The Things They Carried

Source: The Things They Carried

“First, I'll kill the dog with kindness, and if that doesn't work, I'll just kill him.”

Ifs Firsts Kindness Dog

Book:At Home at the Zoo: Homelife and the Zoo Story

Source: At Home at the Zoo: Homelife and the Zoo Story

“She smiled at him, with longing. 'Where do you live,' she asked, 'and how do I get there?”

Book:Birds of America: Stories

Source: Birds of America: Stories

“I don't want realism. I'll tell you what I want. Magic! Yes, yes, magic! I try to give that to people. I misrepresent things to them. I don't tell the truth. I tell what ought to be truth. And if that is sinful, then let me be damned for it!”

People Want Giving Trying Magic Ought Let Me Telling The Truth Realism

Author:Tennessee Williams

“Don't you just love these long rainy afternoons in New Orleans when an hour isn't just an hour — but a little bit of eternity dropped in your hands — and who knows what to do with it?”

Knows Littles Long Hands Hours Pieces Eternity Afternoon New Orleans Rainy

Author:Tennessee Williams

“Be not afeard; the isle is full of noises, Sounds, and sweet airs, that give delight and hurt not. Sometimes a thousand twangling instruments Will hum about mine ears; and sometime voices, That, if I then had waked after long sleep, Will make me sleep again: and then, in dreaming, The clouds methought would open, and show riches Ready to drop upon me; that, when I waked, I cried to dream again.”

“They wanted the real mother, the blood mother, the great womb, mother of fierce compassion, a woman large enough to hold all the pain, to carry it away. What we needed was someone who bled...mother's big enough, wide enough for us to hide in...mother's who would breathe for us when we could not breathe anymore, who would fight for us, who would kill for us, die for us.”

Real Enough Bigs Wanted Pain Mother Dies Fighting Compassion Blood Needed Wide Breathe Fierce Womb

Author:Janet Fitch