John Hensley Quotes

Violence commands both literature and life, and violence is always crude and distorted.

War is an ugly thing but not the ugliest of things.

In 'Bodies,' we had a lot of gore because other medical dramas at the time had these hospitals where even a drop of blood seemed to be too much, which is clearly not what it's like when you cut someone up.

I aim to bring a little pain, and a little roughness to what I do.

Existence is violent, I exist, therefore I'm violent. . . in that way.

And they beat. The women for having known them and no more, no more; the children for having been them but never again. They killed a boss so often and so completely they had to bring him back to life to pulp him one more time. Tasting hot mealcake among pine trees, they beat it away. Singing love songs to Mr. Death, they smashed his head. More than the rest, they killed the flirt whom folks called Life for leading them on.

War is cruelty. There is no use trying to reform it. The crueler it is, the sooner it will be over.

When you see me smash somebody's skull, you enjoy it.

War is not a thing one wants.

Blood and death. That moves me.

At heart, I'm a reconstructive surgeon.

There's a difference between violence and senseless violence.

There are very few personal problems that cannot be solved through a suitable application of high explosives.

Never mind a world that can't see past brutality.

War is the domain of physical exertion and suffering.

War does horrible things to human beings, to societies. It brings out the best, but most often the worst, in our human nature.

To contemplate war is to think about the most horrible of human experiences.

Brain surgery is a fairly aggressive process. There's a lot to get through. There's the beautiful, delicate shaving first, which is really lovely. There's a wonderful ceremony of putting all the covers on, so only the little bit you're operating on is revealed. But once they make the incision and tear the skin back, the drill comes out.

There's nothing glamorous about war at all.

I have pushed virtue to outright brutality.

War dehumanizes everyone.

War is cruelty, and none can make it gentle.

War taught me that not everything is glamorous.

The psychology of brutality was worse than the beatings.

I have experienced within my own lifetime the attack of my winter camp and the killing of the women and children. It left me even angrier than I was - and I was never too calm to begin with.