Service Quotes

“Fear is a force that sharpens your senses. Being afraid is a state of paralysis in which you can't do anything.”
― Marcus Luttrell, Service: A Navy SEAL at War

“Service is selflessness--the opposite of the lifestyle that we see so much of in America today. The things that entertain us don't often lift us up, or show us as the people we can rise up to become. The people who appear in this book--and others who did things I can't talk about--are my role models. They quietly live out the idea expressed in the Bible (John 15:13): "Greater love has no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.”
― Marcus Luttrell, Service: A Navy SEAL at War

“The true soldier fights not because he hates what is in front of him, but because he loves what is behind him. —G. K. CHESTERTON”
― Marcus Luttrell, Service: A Navy SEAL at War

“We all have our crosses to bear. We carry them heavily, out of love for our brothers in arms. But sometimes you have to let go of the idea that anyone down here is in control.”
― Marcus Luttrell, Service: A Navy SEAL at War

“Americans should never forget that the founders of this country, like all who have served her in uniform, were willing to die defending everything its flag represents. It's so easy to get lost in the controversies that divide us. But I believe, no matter what our race, religion, or beliefs may be, that Americans should be able to come together to keep our country rooted in what made it great: a land of opportunity, a place where people can make something of themselves, limited only by their imaginations and willingness to work hard; a country where we can all come together, whatever our differences, for the greater good; a country of hands up, not handouts, where we try to live by the meaning of the words "Love thy neighbor," and put as much effort into helping others as we do helping ourselves. By doing those things, we can continue to live up to the idea of "One nation, under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.”
― Marcus Luttrell, Service: A Navy SEAL at War

“Fear is a force that sharpens your senses. Being afraid is a state of paralysis in which you can’t do anything.”
― Marcus Luttrell, Service: A Navy SEAL at War

“Here in Iraq...we found a country of good people looking after their kids, starting schools, improving their prospects in spite of terrible obstacles.”
― Marcus Luttrell, Service: A Navy SEAL at War

“It's common to think of people in the military as conformists. But that's far from the truth in our community. Some pretty capable and colorful types join the SEAL teams, looking for bigger challenges than their high-flying careers or other interesting backgrounds can offer. Whether doctors, lawyers, longshoreman, college dropout, engineer or NCAA Division I superathlete, they were more than just good special operators. They were a cohesive team whose strength came from their widely diverse talents, educational backgrounds, upbringings, perspectives, and capabilities. They're all-American and patriotic, with a combination of practical intelligence and willpower that you don't want to get crossways with. Streetwise, innovative, adaptable, and often highly intellectual--these are all words that apply to the community. And the majority are so nice that it can be hard to envision their capacity for violent mayhem. BUD/S filters out four of five aspirants, leaving behind only the hardest and most determined--the best. I was so proud and humbled to be part of the brotherhood.”
― Marcus Luttrell, Service: A Navy SEAL at War

“The idea...that our professional military men and women train for years without knowing whether they will ever have to actually carry out their missions to the fullest extent of their abilities is the very heart of what service is all about. Heroes aren't designated in advance. Everyone must always be ready to execute.

In my experience, it's always the greatest heroes who claim they never did anything beyond what any of their buddies would have done in the same situation. Our training and our culture breed that response into us all, no matter what war we were part of. You train yourself to a standard and thereby make yourself interchangeable with others who share the same standard. And that gives everyone an equal claim to the pride that goes with having served your country.”
― Marcus Luttrell, Service: A Navy SEAL at War

“Ernest Hemingway once wrote that “There is no hunting like the hunting of man and those who have hunted armed men long enough and liked it, never really care for anything else thereafter.” Let”
― Marcus Luttrell, Service: A Navy SEAL at War

“If you spend time around people who are weak or always feel sorry for themselves, it’s bound to rub off on you.”
― Marcus Luttrell, Service: A Navy SEAL at War

“We've trained and trained for a reason: to be better at the craft of war than our enemy, to use our skill to perform the mission, and to accept the risks. As American warriors, it's our obligation to protect the innocent. And that means, sometimes, that we're the ones who need to be put on the disadvantaged side of the threat cycle.”
― Marcus Luttrell, Service: A Navy SEAL at War

“This thing is not going to last forever, and the flaming ferris wheel will continue to spin without you.”
― Marcus Luttrell, Service: A Navy SEAL at War

“It's people who focus on the positive that will come out on top.”
― Marcus Luttrell, Service: A Navy SEAL at War

“Our duty is to serve the mission, and if we're not doing that, then we have no right to call what we do service.”
― Marcus Luttrell, Service: A Navy SEAL at War

“You don’t get people to follow you by demanding it with your words. You do it by commanding it with your example.”
― Marcus Luttrell, Service: A Navy SEAL at War

“In death as in life, we stand together, always a family, always a team. The brotherhood never dies.”
― Marcus Luttrell, Service: A Navy SEAL at War

“Does anybody really think a guy riding a bike toward a firefight wearing a black scarf around his head and carrying a rifle slung on his back is looking for a barbershop quartet rehearsal?”
― Marcus Luttrell, Service: A Navy SEAL at War

“if there really is no way you can win, you never say it out loud. You assess why, change strategy, adjust tactics, and keep fighting and pushing till either you’ve gotten a better outcome or you’ve died. Either way, you never quit when your country needs you to succeed. As Team 5 was shutting down the workup and loading up its gear, our task unit’s leadership flew to Ramadi to do what we call a predeployment site survey. Lieutenant Commander Thomas went, and so did both of our platoon officers in charge. It was quite an adventure. They were shot at every day. They were hit by IEDs. When they came home, Lieutenant Commander Thomas got us together in the briefing room and laid out the details. The general reaction from the team was, “Get ready, kids. This is gonna be one hell of a ride.” I remember sitting around the team room talking about it. Morgan had a big smile on his face. Elliott Miller, too, all 240 pounds of him, looked happy. Even Mr. Fantastic seemed at peace and relaxed, in that sober, senior chief way. We turned over in our minds the hard realities of the city. Only a couple weeks from now we would be calling Ramadi home. For six or seven months we’d be living in a hornet’s nest, picking up where Team 3 had left off. It was time for us to roll. In late September, Al Qaeda’s barbaric way of dealing with the local population was stirring some of Iraq’s Sunni tribal leaders to come over to our side. (Stuff like punishing cigarette smokers by cutting off their fingers—can you blame locals for wanting those crazies gone?) Standing up for their own people posed a serious risk, but it was easier to justify when you had five thousand American military personnel backing you up. That’ll boost your courage, for sure. We were putting that vise grip on that city, infiltrating it, and setting up shop, block by block, house by house, inch by inch. On September 29, a Team 3 platoon set out on foot from a combat outpost named Eagle’s Nest on the final operation of their six-month deployment. Located in the dangerous Ma’laab district, it wasn’t much more than a perimeter of concrete walls and concertina wire bundling up a block of residential homes. COP Eagle’s”
― Marcus Luttrell, Service: A Navy SEAL at War

“He who has felt the deepest grief is best able to experience supreme happiness.”
― Marcus Luttrell, Service: A Navy SEAL at War

“The worse things get, the more you know you can count on men like that to always have your back. If you really want to know if someone is a true friend, get yourself into a tight spot with him or her, everyone has plenty of friends when things are good, but friendship is forged in moments of chaos.”
― Marcus Luttrell, Service: A Navy SEAL at War

“We're trained and trained for a reason: to be better at the craft of war than our enemy, to use our skill to perform the missions, and to accept the risks. As American warriors, it's our obligation to protect the innocent. And that means, sometimes that we're the one who needs to be put on the disadvantaged side of the threat cycle.”
― Marcus Luttrell, Service: A Navy SEAL at War

“In death, as in life, we stand together, always a family, always a team. The brotherhood never dies.”
― Marcus Luttrell, Service: A Navy SEAL at War

“There are times when you have to put yourself at a disadvantage in order to accomplish a larger mission and secure a longer-tern goal.”
― Marcus Luttrell, Service: A Navy SEAL at War

“I have found that the best way to get through tough times is to surround myself with positive people. If you spend time around people who are weak of always feel sorry for themselves, it's bound to rub off on you. Always look forward, never back.”
― Marcus Luttrell, Service: A Navy SEAL at War

“You have to have drive and commitment - as well as an honest sense of what is and isn't possible.”
― Marcus Luttrell, Service: A Navy SEAL at War

“How he learned to distinguish fear from the impostor, being afraid. Fear is a force that sharpens your senses. Being afraid is a state of paralysis in which you can't do anything.”
― Marcus Luttrell, Service: A Navy SEAL at War

“You have to use your fear to keep from that deadly state of being afraid.”
― Marcus Luttrell, Service: A Navy SEAL at War

“It's easy after a disaster to dwell on the experience, to spend too much time with your mind stuck on it, and to let it defeat you.”
― Marcus Luttrell, Service: A Navy SEAL at War

“I can't tell you how much the sight of the flag means to me, or the heritage of the military men who came before me. It's about this country and it's people.”
― Marcus Luttrell, Service: A Navy SEAL at War