Quotes from John Birmingham

Grief is an ocean, fathomless and wide, and on the surface its most impelling forces arrive in waves

Those men and women were not press-ganged into service. It was not just a choice for them. It was and remains a calling. And sir, no nation on earth can hope to survive long without people who will answer that call. No nation can hope to survive if it does not respect what they have offered and do the hard things that history sometimes asks of us. Sometimes, Mister President, there is no answer but blood.

Plus, it's an optimistic sort of music. People want that at the moment. Who needs death metal when you've got the Nazis?" They

Do you have a particularly small penis, sir? Is that why you feel the need to compensate for your inadequacies with this behavior? If so, let me assure you, it didn't work. You still have a very small penis, and now you look like an idiot, too." De

But later, standing in triage, surrounded by a pile of bloody rags that had been cut from the body of an eight-year-old boy who was now in surgery, having a gangrenous leg amputated, she felt the black heat rising inside her head again. It made her wish she'd gone with Cooper. What the hell is wrong with people that they'd do these things—to little kids? It

She wasn't sure what he meant by 'surquedry', other than probably meaning he thought she was a lippy bitch

Yes, Prime Minister," said MacArthur, "it's a warship. Sticking out of a mountain, thousands of feet above sea level." Curtin

he looked like an angry, underfed golem carved from oatmeal, egg yolks, and rancid spam—about three hundred years ago.

It's Pearl Harbour, sir. But with muffins.

These people had been at war for nearly two decades. It was only natural that they would be completely inured to its savageries by now

As we are preparing to land the captain asks that you return your tray tables to the upright position, unfasten your seat belts, and jump out of the helicopter. We'd like to thank you for flying with the U.S. Navy, and hope you will choose to travel with us again in the future." "The far fucking future," added Harford. "Amen," said Ivanov. As

That's the problem with leadership cults. They're red hot on getting shit done, once the big man has spoken, but not so good at weighing up whether that shit should have been done in the first place.

Smith wiped grass and dirt from his butt and scowled at their surroundings as though they hadn't just escaped a fascist clusterfuckturducken of epic scale and infinite suckage.

It's the air force. They would have come through here and bombed the shit out of the place. That's what you smell. Toasted Nazis. Mmmmmh. Crispy.

There's no way the thing would have been so completely smothered if the victims hadn't been a nigger and a Jap. Well, there might be nothing he could to do for them, but at least he could prevent Monique's little brother from swinging in the breeze.

spoke of a gigantic whirlpool that had sucked two American carriers down to the very bottom of the Coral Sea. By the time that rumor had reached Takasuka's ears, it had twisted itself into a perverse story that as you dropped down the funnel you could see old Viking raiders and the bones of Roman galleys on the gray floor of the seabed. He never failed to be amazed at the bullshit sailors were able to dream up. As

she was going to need to stay frosty until she could reach into his fucking chest and rip his heart out herself just to make sure the fucker was really dead.

It's a hard point connection. USB-C or Lightning?" Harry took out his phone and handed it to her. "USB-C." The

Words matter, and the right words matter most of all. In the end they're all that remain of us.