115 Best The Things They Carried Quotes (with Commentary)

The Things They Carried by Tim O’Brien is a touching exploration of the Vietnam War and its deep impact on those who lived through it.

Through a mixture of fiction and memoir, O’Brien captures the emotional weight that soldiers carried with them.

This compilation of quotes from The Things They Carried exploresthe powerful words that convey the complexities of war, the bonds of brotherhood, and the haunting memories that stay long after the battle has finished.

Top Quotes from “The Things They Carried”

Tim O’Brien’s “The Things They Carried” poignantly captures the complexity of war, memory, and the burden of survival. These quotes reflect the profound emotional and psychological landscapes navigated by soldiers during the Vietnam War, highlighting their struggles, fears, and moments of tender humanity.

“They carried all the emotional baggage of men who might die. Grief, terror, love, longing—these were intangibles, but the intangibles had their own mass and specific gravity, they had tangible weight.” – Tim O’Brien

“A thing may happen and be a total lie; another thing may not happen and be truer than the truth.” – Tim O’Brien

“They carried all they could bear, and then some, including a silent awe for the terrible power of the things they carried.” – Tim O’Brien

“I survived, but it’s not a happy ending. I was a coward. I went to the war.” – Tim O’Brien

“War is hell, but that’s not the half of it, because war is also mystery and terror and adventure and courage and discovery and holiness and pity and despair and longing and love.” – Tim O’Brien

“Stories are for joining the past to the future.” – Tim O’Brien

“Men killed, and died, because they were embarrassed not to.” – Tim O’Brien

“It was very sad, the end of a thing, and it carried long shadows.” – Tim O’Brien

“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.” – Tim O’Brien

“To carry something was to touch it, to feel the weight of it forever.” – Tim O’Brien

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Iconic Quotes from “The Things They Carried” on War

“The Things They Carried” offers a raw and evocative view of the Vietnam War, providing deep insights into the personal experiences and moral complexities faced by soldiers. These iconic quotes specifically address the theme of war, its impact on the human spirit, and the inexplicable bonds it creates among those who endure it together.

“But this too is true: stories can save us.” – Tim O’Brien

“In war you lose your sense of the definite, hence your sense of truth itself, and therefore it’s safe to say that in a true war story nothing is ever absolutely true.” – Tim O’Brien

“They carried the sky. The whole atmosphere, they carried it, the humidity, the monsoons, the stink of fungus and decay, all of it, they carried gravity.” – Tim O’Brien

“If a story seems moral, do not believe it. If at the end of a war story you feel uplifted, or if you feel that some small bit of rectitude has been salvaged from the larger waste, then you have been made the victim of a very old and terrible lie.” – Tim O’Brien

“What they carried was partly a function of rank, partly of field specialty.” – Tim O’Brien

“Sometimes remembering will lead to a story, which makes it forever. That’s what stories are for. Stories are for joining the past to the future.” – Tim O’Brien

“Courage was not always a matter of yes or no. Sometimes it came in degrees, like the cold; sometimes you were very brave up to a point and then beyond that point you were not so brave.” – Tim O’Brien

“By telling stories, you objectify your own experience. You separate it from yourself. You pin down certain truths. You make up others.” – Tim O’Brien

“War is nasty; war is fun. War is thrilling; war is drudgery. War makes you a man; war makes you dead.” – Tim O’Brien

“They carried each other.” – Tim O’Brien

The Things They Carried Quotes on Fear and Courage

In “The Things They Carried,” Tim O’Brien intricately explores the interplay between fear and courage within the hearts and minds of soldiers. These quotes delve into the raw, often contradictory emotions that drive men in the face of mortal danger, shedding light on their internal battles and the bravery that sometimes emerges from fear.

“Courage was not the absence of fear but the ability to act despite it.” – Tim O’Brien

“They carried their own lives. The pressures were enormous. In many respects this was the heaviest burden of all, for it could never be put down.” – Tim O’Brien

“It was not courage, exactly; the object was not valor. Rather, they were too frightened to be cowards.” – Tim O’Brien

“Fear, of course, is always there; it’s a kind of background music, barely audible, so constant that it becomes part of your bones.” – Tim O’Brien

“I was a coward. I went to war.” – Tim O’Brien

“Sometimes bravery involves laying down your life for something bigger than yourself, or for someone else. Sometimes it involves giving up everything you have ever known, or everyone you have ever loved, for the sake of something greater.” – Tim O’Brien

“Being brave meant that still, inside that confusion and terror, you carried something beautiful, something pure.” – Tim O’Brien

“In the presence of danger, some people will find the strength they never knew they had.” – Tim O’Brien

“At its core, perhaps, fear is the emotion of what is not known or understood.” – Tim O’Brien

“To know you’re close to the end is a kind of freedom. Good time to take… inventory.” – Tim O’Brien

The Things They Carried Quotes About Memory and Trauma

“The Things They Carried” is as much a narrative about war as it is a study on memory and trauma. O’Brien’s depiction of how soldiers carry the psychological burdens of their experiences brings forth a poignant understanding of the lasting impacts of conflict. Here are ten quotes illustrating how memory and trauma manifest in the lives of veterans.

“A thing may happen and be a total lie; another thing may not happen and be truer than the truth.” – Tim O’Brien

“Stories are for eternity, when memory is erased, when there is nothing to remember except the story.” – Tim O’Brien

“By telling stories, you objectify your own experience. You separate it from yourself. You pin down certain truths. You make up others.” – Tim O’Brien

“But this too is true: stories can save us.” – Tim O’Brien

“The pictures get jumbled; you tend to miss a lot. And then afterward, when you go to tell about it, there is always that surreal seemingness, which makes the story seem untrue, but which in fact represents the hard and exact truth as it seemed.” – Tim O’Brien

“The thing about remembering is that you don’t forget.” – Tim O’Brien

“He remembered now how young they were then. How innocent. How they never thought they’d die.” – Tim O’Brien

“Some part of the story would always be missing. The part where the pain was. The part where the evil was.” – Tim O’Brien

“The memories were not memories but just happenings, over and over, little movies shot with a camera full of gaping holes.” – Tim O’Brien

“They carried all they could bear, and then some, including a silent awe for the terrible power of the things they carried.” – Tim O’Brien

Philosophical The Things They Carried Quotes

Tim O’Brien’s “The Things They Carried” delves deeply into the philosophical implications of war, memory, and existence. The following quotes explore the often paradoxical nature of war and its impact on those who bear its burdens, highlighting the profound reflections that emerge from their experiences.

“A true war story is never moral. It does not instruct, nor encourage virtue, nor suggest models of proper human behavior, nor restrain men from doing the things men have always done. If a story seems moral, do not believe it.” – Tim O’Brien

“But this too is true: stories can save us.” – Tim O’Brien

“In any war story, but especially a true one, it’s difficult to separate what happened from what seemed to happen.” – Tim O’Brien

“They carried the soldier’s greatest fear, which was the fear of blushing. Men killed, and died, because they were embarrassed not to.” – Tim O’Brien

“If at the end of a war story you feel uplifted, or if you feel that some small bit of rectitude has been salvaged from the larger waste, then you have been made the victim of a very old and terrible lie.” – Tim O’Brien

“What stories can do, I guess, is make things present.” – Tim O’Brien

“You can tell a true war story by the way it never seems to end. Not then, not ever.” – Tim O’Brien

“And in the end, of course, a true war story is never about war. It’s about sunlight. It’s about the special way that dawn spreads out on a river when you know you must cross the river and march into the mountains and do things you are afraid to do.” – 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.” – Tim O’Brien

The Things They Carried Quotes on Brotherhood and Camaraderie

The bonds of brotherhood and camaraderie form one of the central themes of “The Things They Carried.” These quotes highlight the deep connections formed between soldiers, the shared experiences that unite them, and the profound impact of these relationships on their lives during and after the war.

“They carried each other.” – Tim O’Brien

“It was more than just a comrade, more than just a friend. There was this love, deep and without irony, a respect for what the other had gone through.” – Tim O’Brien

“They shared the weight of memory. They took up what others could no longer bear. Often, they carried each other, the wounded or weak.” – Tim O’Brien

“For the common soldier, at least, war has the feel—the spiritual texture—of a great ghostly fog, thick and permanent. There is no clarity. Everything swirls. The old rules are no longer binding, the old truths no longer true.” – Tim O’Brien

“I survived, but it’s not a happy ending. I was a coward. I went to the war.” – Tim O’Brien

“When you’re afraid, really afraid, you see things you never saw before, you pay attention to the world.” – Tim O’Brien

“Friendship, loyalty, love—the reasons for all those high-sounding words.” – Tim O’Brien

“We were all so scared, which meant we were also brave.” – Tim O’Brien

“I could not endure the thought of losing him, not ever.” – Tim O’Brien

“They were no longer merely friends. They were brothers. They would die for each other.” – Tim O’Brien

The Things They Carried Quotes About Guilt and Redemption

Tim O’Brien’s “The Things They Carried” deeply explores the themes of guilt and redemption, reflecting on how soldiers grapple with their actions and seek forgiveness or understanding. These quotes encapsulate the emotional burdens carried by the soldiers, illustrating the complex journey from guilt to possible redemption.

“Guilt is a terrible thing, and soldiers are forced to live with it, turning it over and over in their minds, imagining different outcomes, wishing for a different path.” – Tim O’Brien

“They carried shameful memories. They carried the common secret of cowardice barely restrained, the instinct to run or freeze or hide.” – Tim O’Brien

“By telling stories, you objectify your own experience. You separate it from yourself. You pin down certain truths. You make up others. You start sometimes with an incident that really happened, like the night in the shit field, and you carry it forward by inventing incidents that did not in fact occur but that nonetheless help to clarify and explain.” – Tim O’Brien

“It was guilt and grief, it was the sadness of losing yourself in forms and shadows and dreams.” – Tim O’Brien

“I did not look on my work as therapy, and still don’t. Yet when I received the draft notice, I thought about Canada. I thought about jail. No real choice, but there it was. And I was a coward. I went to the war.” – Tim O’Brien

“Sometimes I forgive myself, other times I don’t. In the ordinary hours of life I try not to dwell on it, but now and then, when I’m reading a newspaper or just sitting alone in a room, I’ll look up and see the young man coming out of the morning fog. Then I’ll remember.” – Tim O’Brien

“Forgiveness, therefore, was not for me to bestow. I would not be the one to forgive her, nor would it be the other villagers. True forgiveness was something higher. It was the province of the divine. You could only aspire to it, strive toward it, hope for it.” – Tim O’Brien

“The thing about a story is that you dream it as you tell it, hoping that others might then dream along with you, and in this way memory and imagination and language combine to make spirits in the head.” – Tim O’Brien

“Redemption, he knew, was not deliverance from sin, a permanent state of grace. Redemption was a process, always ongoing but never complete, like the turning of a river against its banks.” – Tim O’Brien

“You don’t try to forget the mistakes, but you don’t dwell on it. You don’t let it have any of your energy, or any of your time, or any of your space.” – Tim O’Brien

The Things They Carried Quotes on Life and Death

“Life and Death” form a critical axis around which “The Things They Carried” rotates, offering stark reflections on the transient nature of existence and the omnipresence of mortality. These quotes provide poignant insights into how life and death intertwine, impacting the soldiers’ perspectives and actions.

“They carried their own lives. The pressures were enormous. In many respects, this was the heaviest burden of all, for it could never be put down.” – Tim O’Brien

“Death hangs over you. While you live, while it is in your power, be good.” – Tim O’Brien

“A true war story is never about war. It’s about sunlight. It’s about the special way that dawn spreads out on a river when you know you must cross the river and march into the mountains and do things you are afraid to do.” – Tim O’Brien

“In war, there are no unwounded soldiers.” – Tim O’Brien

“But this too is true: stories can save us. They do save us. That humanity is more important than simple survival. That you are not alone.” – Tim O’Brien

“To be alive was a miracle; to be young was to be splendorous.” – Tim O’Brien

“He had been a soldier for a long time and he carried the soldier’s greatest fear, which was the fear of blushing.” – Tim O’Brien

“And in the end, of course, a true war story is never about war. It’s about sunlight.” – Tim O’Brien

“It doesn’t matter how many die so long as you survive, or how few so long as you die.” – Tim O’Brien

The Things They Carried Quotes on Truth and Storytelling

In “The Things They Carried,” Tim O’Brien masterfully explores the elusive nature of truth and the power of storytelling. These quotes examine how narratives are constructed to make sense of the chaos of experiences, particularly in war, where truth is often the first casualty.

“Storytelling is a way to say who you are without having to explain.” – Tim O’Brien

“In any war story, but especially a true one, it’s difficult to separate what happened from what seemed to happen.” – Tim O’Brien

“You can tell a true war story if it embarrasses you. If you don’t care for obscenity, you don’t care for the truth; if you don’t care for the truth, watch how you vote. Send guys to war, they come home talking dirty.” – Tim O’Brien

“But this too is true: stories can save us.” – Tim O’Brien

“If I tell stories, it’s because I dream of a kind of absolute freedom, a freedom powerful enough to dissolve the hardness of memory.” – Tim O’Brien

“Fiction is the lie that helps us understand the truth.” – Tim O’Brien

“What stories can do, I guess, is make things present.” – 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.” – Tim O’Brien

“Sometimes story is truer than happening.” – Tim O’Brien

The Things They Carried Quotes on Loss and Grief

“Loss and grief” permeate the pages of “The Things They Carried,” reflecting the deep emotional scars left by war. These quotes provide insight into the personal and collective pain of the soldiers, illustrating the enduring impact of loss and the struggle for emotional reconciliation.

“They carried all they could bear, and then some, including a silent awe for the terrible power of the things they carried.” – Tim O’Brien

“It was very sad, the end of a thing, and it carried long shadows.” – Tim O’Brien

“Grief, he learned, is a type of solitude.” – Tim O’Brien

“The lives of the dead echo in the living.” – Tim O’Brien

“They died so as not to die of embarrassment.” – Tim O’Brien

“He felt shame. He hated himself. He loved Martha more than his men, and as a consequence Lavender was now dead, and this was something he would have to carry like a stone in his stomach for the rest of the war.” – Tim O’Brien

“When a man died, there had to be blame. Jimmy Cross understood this. You could blame the war… You could blame the enemy… You could blame Kiowa for going to it. But in the end, really, there was no one to blame.” – Tim O’Brien

“There’s a kind of emptiness that doesn’t go away and it burns. It burns like hunger but deeper.” – Tim O’Brien

“They carried the sky. The whole atmosphere, they carried it, the humidity, the monsoons, the stink of fungus and decay, all of it, they carried gravity.” – Tim O’Brien

The Things They Carried Quotes from Tim O’Brien

Tim O’Brien’s reflections in “The Things They Carried” blend narrative with introspection, exploring the personal and collective burdens of the Vietnam War. Here, he offers insights into the human condition, revealing the inner landscapes shaped by conflict and the complexities of memory and loss.

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

“They carried the sky. The whole atmosphere, they carried it, the humidity, the monsoons, the stink of fungus and decay, all of it, they carried gravity.” – Tim O’Brien

“A thing may happen and be a total lie; another thing may not happen and be truer than the truth.” – Tim O’Brien

“Stories are for joining the past to the future.” – Tim O’Brien

“If stories seem moral, do not believe them. If at the end of a war story you feel uplifted, or if you feel that some small bit of rectitude has been salvaged from the larger waste, then you have been made the victim of a very old and terrible lie.” – Tim O’Brien

“They carried all they could bear, and then some, including a silent awe for the terrible power of the things they carried.” – Tim O’Brien

“What they carried varied by mission, but they all carried ghosts.” – Tim O’Brien

“In war you lose your sense of the definite, hence your sense of truth itself, and therefore it’s safe to say that in a true war story nothing is ever absolutely true.” – Tim O’Brien

The Things They Carried Quotes About the Vietnam War

“The Things They Carried” provides a visceral look into the Vietnam War, not only detailing the physical hardships but also the psychological toll on the soldiers. These quotes capture the essence of what it was like to serve in this tumultuous conflict and the indelible marks it left on those who survived.

“Men killed, and died, because they were embarrassed not to.” – Tim O’Brien

“It was very sad, the end of a thing, and it carried long shadows.” – Tim O’Brien

“They carried all they could bear, and then some, including a silent awe for the terrible power of the things they carried.” – Tim O’Brien

“By telling stories, you objectify your own experience. You separate it from yourself. You pin down certain truths. You make up others.” – Tim O’Brien

“To carry something was to touch it, to feel the weight of it forever.” – Tim O’Brien

“The war tried to kill us in the spring.” – Tim O’Brien

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Final Thoughts

The quotes from The Things They Carried offer a profound and lasting reflection on the human experience of war.

Through Tim O’Brien’s masterful storytelling, these quotes capture the pain, bravery, and strength of soldiers who faced unbelievable challenges.

They remind you of the lasting scars of conflict and the significance of thinking of those who carried the burdens of war, both on the battleground and in their hearts.