# The Heart and the Fist  ## Metadata - Author:: [[Eric Greitens]] - Full Title:: The Heart and the Fist - Category: #books ## Highlights > without courage, compassion falters, and that without compassion, courage has no direction. ([Location 67](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B004TC0GZY&location=67)) > "What you leave behind is not what is engraved in stone monuments, but what is woven into the lives of others." ([Location 201](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B004TC0GZY&location=201)) > On the frontlines—in humanitarian crises, in wars overseas, and around some kitchen tables here at home—I'd seen that peace is more than the absence of war, and that a good life entails more than the absence of suffering. A good peace, a solid peace, a peace in which communities can flourish, can only be built when we ask ourselves and each other to be more than just good, and better than just strong. And a good life, a meaningful life, a life in which we can enjoy the world and live with purpose, can only be built if we do more than live for ourselves. ([Location 206](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B004TC0GZY&location=206)) > In this regard they followed the American essayist Ralph Waldo Emerson, who believed that action was essential: "Without it," Emerson wrote, "thought can never ripen into truth"2 ([Location 1397](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B004TC0GZY&location=1397)) > Alone, human beings can feel hunger. Alone, we can feel cold. Alone, we can feel pain. To feel poor, however, is something we do only in comparison to others. ([Location 1460](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B004TC0GZY&location=1460)) > What matters for the long-term health and vitality of people who have suffered is not what they are given, but what they do. Rather than simply giving aid to children, it made sense to support children, families, ([Location 1829](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B004TC0GZY&location=1829)) > and communities that were already engaged in their own recovery. ([Location 1831](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B004TC0GZY&location=1831)) > The philosopher John Stuart Mill once wrote, "War is an ugly thing, but not the ugliest of things. The decayed and degraded state of moral and patriotic feeling which thinks that nothing is worth war is much worse. The person who has nothing for which he is willing to fight, nothing which is more important than his own personal safety, is a miserable creature and has no chance of being free unless made and kept so by the exertions of better men than himself."8 ([Location 2016](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B004TC0GZY&location=2016)) > Emerson once wrote that concentration is the secret of strength. You can't chase two rabbits at once. And for men to perform overseas while their lives kept running at home, absolute concentration on the task at hand is essential. ([Location 2544](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B004TC0GZY&location=2544)) > Every man in our class admired Senior Chief Salazar. I suspect that he knew this, and he used his power to teach important lessons, not just about combat, but also about how to live. "You know what, guys? I want to tell you something about women. And I want to tell you something about what it means to be a real frogman. You know how a real frogman treats women?" We kept running, none of us with any idea what Senior Chief would say. "If you're a real frogman, then every time a woman leaves your side, she'll feel better about herself." ([Location 2565](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B004TC0GZY&location=2565)) > in reality. The Greeks often talked about phronesis, practical wisdom. It's a concept that has no direct equivalent in English. We sometimes talk of "knowledge" or "common sense," but phronesis implies something more. Phronesis is the ability to figure out what to do, while at the same time knowing what is worth doing. ([Location 4539](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B004TC0GZY&location=4539)) > In Survival, Evasion, Resistance, and Escape school we were taught the "Stockdale paradox," named after Admiral James Stockdale, a POW in Vietnam for seven and a half years who received the Congressional Medal of Honor for his leadership while in captivity. Stockdale taught that as a leader, you must embrace reality and be brutally honest about the harsh facts of your situation. At the same time, you must maintain hope. ([Location 4620](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B004TC0GZY&location=4620)) # The Heart and the Fist  ## Metadata - Author:: [[Eric Greitens]] - Full Title:: The Heart and the Fist - Category: #books ## Highlights > without courage, compassion falters, and that without compassion, courage has no direction. ([Location 67](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B004TC0GZY&location=67)) > "What you leave behind is not what is engraved in stone monuments, but what is woven into the lives of others." ([Location 201](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B004TC0GZY&location=201)) > On the frontlines—in humanitarian crises, in wars overseas, and around some kitchen tables here at home—I'd seen that peace is more than the absence of war, and that a good life entails more than the absence of suffering. A good peace, a solid peace, a peace in which communities can flourish, can only be built when we ask ourselves and each other to be more than just good, and better than just strong. And a good life, a meaningful life, a life in which we can enjoy the world and live with purpose, can only be built if we do more than live for ourselves. ([Location 206](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B004TC0GZY&location=206)) > In this regard they followed the American essayist Ralph Waldo Emerson, who believed that action was essential: "Without it," Emerson wrote, "thought can never ripen into truth"2 ([Location 1397](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B004TC0GZY&location=1397)) > Alone, human beings can feel hunger. Alone, we can feel cold. Alone, we can feel pain. To feel poor, however, is something we do only in comparison to others. ([Location 1460](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B004TC0GZY&location=1460)) > What matters for the long-term health and vitality of people who have suffered is not what they are given, but what they do. Rather than simply giving aid to children, it made sense to support children, families, ([Location 1829](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B004TC0GZY&location=1829)) > and communities that were already engaged in their own recovery. ([Location 1831](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B004TC0GZY&location=1831)) > The philosopher John Stuart Mill once wrote, "War is an ugly thing, but not the ugliest of things. The decayed and degraded state of moral and patriotic feeling which thinks that nothing is worth war is much worse. The person who has nothing for which he is willing to fight, nothing which is more important than his own personal safety, is a miserable creature and has no chance of being free unless made and kept so by the exertions of better men than himself."8 ([Location 2016](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B004TC0GZY&location=2016)) > Emerson once wrote that concentration is the secret of strength. You can't chase two rabbits at once. And for men to perform overseas while their lives kept running at home, absolute concentration on the task at hand is essential. ([Location 2544](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B004TC0GZY&location=2544)) > Every man in our class admired Senior Chief Salazar. I suspect that he knew this, and he used his power to teach important lessons, not just about combat, but also about how to live. "You know what, guys? I want to tell you something about women. And I want to tell you something about what it means to be a real frogman. You know how a real frogman treats women?" We kept running, none of us with any idea what Senior Chief would say. "If you're a real frogman, then every time a woman leaves your side, she'll feel better about herself." ([Location 2565](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B004TC0GZY&location=2565)) > in reality. The Greeks often talked about phronesis, practical wisdom. It's a concept that has no direct equivalent in English. We sometimes talk of "knowledge" or "common sense," but phronesis implies something more. Phronesis is the ability to figure out what to do, while at the same time knowing what is worth doing. ([Location 4539](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B004TC0GZY&location=4539)) > In Survival, Evasion, Resistance, and Escape school we were taught the "Stockdale paradox," named after Admiral James Stockdale, a POW in Vietnam for seven and a half years who received the Congressional Medal of Honor for his leadership while in captivity. Stockdale taught that as a leader, you must embrace reality and be brutally honest about the harsh facts of your situation. At the same time, you must maintain hope. ([Location 4620](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B004TC0GZY&location=4620))