Quotes by Dan Groat

It made him wonder if all things taken from their home too soon lost some of their bloom.

He had no ability to give up. It wasn’t that he didn’t want to quit, he couldn’t. It wasn’t in him. It never had been.

Surviving is about need. Living is about want.

If you decide to take somebody on, don’t look behind you, because there won’t be anybody there. You’ll be all alone.

They understood that brave men could be injured more by pity than by disease.

Gifford Ulrich didn’t know the distance from despair to hope, but he knew hope didn’t sleep in alleys.

As I have aged, I’ve been lucky never to reach old. Old is always at least five or ten years beyond my current calendar stage.

A person gets built and stands for a few years and then nature’s demolition team comes in.

My name Quan. Quan Nguyen. This Kim-Ly, wife. We next door. Do nails. We with Mr. Blaylock. He fight, we fight. We come here from Viet Nam. This good country, but sometimes, good people in good country have to fight.

Winning and losing was suddenly elevated to be about things that had no score and no teams and no uniforms; just one player at a time dealing with his life, his own struggle, his own triumph and torment.

Those who show no loyalty give up the right to expect any.

Fear was the hand of the devil holding a scalding hot branding iron and touching your brain and your stomach and yelling at you to run with leaden feet.

True genius is a complete stranger to most, a momentary acquaintance to others, a lasting friend to few.

In this country our principles should not be silent.

Now, it’s time for me to lock up and go. Listen to me. Lock up an empty building that’s gonna be torn down. Makes no sense. Like an old man tellin’ a lie to his son from his death bed. What’s the point? Who besides yourself are you fooling?

We get so beat down by what we need, sometimes we forget how to want.

The weak thrive on indulgence.

He knew most men only heard what they wanted to hear, and he had no desire to be like most men.

Despite his best efforts, maintaining dignity in a head attached to an unclean body wrapped in unclean garments was a battle that encouraged surrender.

There’s nothing wrong with fighting when you have no choice. As a matter of fact, it’s what you should do, but when you fight, fight to win.