"Distance not only gives nostalgia, but perspective, and maybe objectivity"
About this Quote
A soldier saying this lands with a different kind of authority: not the cozy “time heals” cliché, but the hard-earned knowledge that stepping back can be a survival skill. “Distance” here isn’t just miles on a map; it’s removal from the noise of immediate danger, group emotion, and the daily improvisation that war demands. Morgan pairs three effects in a quietly escalating sequence: nostalgia (the seduction), perspective (the discipline), and “maybe objectivity” (the ideal he refuses to romanticize).
That “maybe” does a lot of work. It admits how unreliable memory is, how quickly nostalgia edits out fear, boredom, and moral compromise. Distance can soften horror into narrative, turning chaos into something you can carry. The line recognizes that human beings don’t just recall the past; we curate it. For someone who has likely lived through situations where perception is literally life-or-death, the promise of “objectivity” is offered with a soldier’s skepticism: you can aim for it, but you don’t get to assume you’ve reached it.
Subtextually, the quote argues for strategic detachment. It’s a counter to impulsive certainty, the kind that thrives in close quarters - whether that’s a battlefield, a barracks, or a nation whipped into fervor. Morgan isn’t celebrating emotional distance as coldness; he’s treating it as a tool for clearer judgment, and a warning that clarity always comes filtered through what we want to believe about ourselves once we’re finally far enough away to tell the story.
That “maybe” does a lot of work. It admits how unreliable memory is, how quickly nostalgia edits out fear, boredom, and moral compromise. Distance can soften horror into narrative, turning chaos into something you can carry. The line recognizes that human beings don’t just recall the past; we curate it. For someone who has likely lived through situations where perception is literally life-or-death, the promise of “objectivity” is offered with a soldier’s skepticism: you can aim for it, but you don’t get to assume you’ve reached it.
Subtextually, the quote argues for strategic detachment. It’s a counter to impulsive certainty, the kind that thrives in close quarters - whether that’s a battlefield, a barracks, or a nation whipped into fervor. Morgan isn’t celebrating emotional distance as coldness; he’s treating it as a tool for clearer judgment, and a warning that clarity always comes filtered through what we want to believe about ourselves once we’re finally far enough away to tell the story.
Quote Details
| Topic | Nostalgia |
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