{"author":"Winston Groom","author_id":"Winston+Groom","total_quotes":21,"quotes":[{"text":"There was a guy next to my cot name of Dan, who had been blowed up inside a tank. He was all burnt and had tubes going in and out of him everyplace, but I never heard him holler. He talk real low and quiet, and after a day or so, him and me got to be friends. Dan came from the state of Connecticut, and he was a teacher of history when they grabbed him up and threw him into the Army. But because he was smart, they sent him to officer school and made him a lieutenant. Most of the lieutenants I know were about as simple minded as me, but Dan was different. He had his own philosophy about why we were here, which was that we were doing maybe the wrong thing for the right reasons, or vice-versa, but whatever it is, we ain't doing it right. Him being a tank officer and all, he say it ridiculous for us to be waging a war in a place where we can't hardly use our tanks on account of the land is mostly swamp or mountains. I told him about Bubba and all, and he nod his head very sadly and said there will be a lot more Bubbas to die before this thing is over.","author":"Winston Groom","tags":["death","die","war","warfare"],"id":20891,"author_id":"Winston+Groom"},{"text":"One day we found them. They must of been holding a gook convention or something, cause it seem like the same sort of deal as when you step on a anthill and they all come swarming around.","author":"Winston Groom","tags":["ants","convention","find","humor","humorous","humour","humourous","insect","meeting"],"id":49078,"author_id":"Winston+Groom"},{"text":"I don't know if mama was right, that we each have a destiny, or if if was Lt Dan, that we are all just floating around, accidental, like on a breeze, but I think... I think... Maybe... It's both happening at the same time.","author":"Winston Groom","tags":["movies"],"id":59610,"author_id":"Winston+Groom"},{"text":"Dear Forrest, I am sorry there was no time for us to speech other before I left. The doctors made their decision quickly, and before I knew it, I was being taken away, but I asked if I could stop long enough to write you this note, because you have been so kind to me whileI was here. I sense, Forrest, that you are on the verge of something very significant in your life, some change, or event that will move you in a different direction, and you must seize the moment, and not let it pass. When I think back on it now, there is something in your eyes, some tiny flash of fire that comes now and then, mostly when you smile, and , on those infrequent occasions, I believe what I saw was almost a Genesis of our ability as humans to think, to create, to be. This war is to for you, old pal - nor me - and I am well out of it as I'm sure you will be in time. The crucial question is, what will you do? I don't think you're an idiot at all. Perhaps by the measure of tests or the judgement of fools, you might fall into some category or other, but deep down, Forrest, I have seen that glowing sparkle of curiosity burning deep in your mind. Take the tide, my friend, and as you are carried along, make it work for you, fight the shallows and the snags and never give up. You are a good fellow, forrest, and you have a big heart. Your pal, Dan.","author":"Winston Groom","tags":["friend","inspire","kind","letter","motivate"],"id":66052,"author_id":"Winston+Groom"},{"text":"I got to tell you, that if it weren't for that harmonica music, I might of just packed up and gone home, but it made me feel so good, I can hardly describe it. Sort of like my whole body is the harmonica and the music give me goosebumps when I play it.","author":"Winston Groom","tags":["forrest-gump","harmonica","music","music-love","winston-groom"],"id":96177,"author_id":"Winston+Groom"},{"text":"If your gonna screw up, do it while you're young. Older you get, the harder it is to bounce back.","author":"Winston Groom","tags":["growing-up","mistakes","young"],"id":111354,"author_id":"Winston+Groom"},{"text":"There was some people hurt far worst than I was in that hospital, let me tell you. Poor old boys with arms and legs and hands and who knows what else missing. Boys what had been shot in their stomach and chests and faces. At night the place sound like a torture chamber - them fellers be howling and crying and calling for their mamas.","author":"Winston Groom","tags":["war","warfare","wounded"],"id":145344,"author_id":"Winston+Groom"},{"text":"Life is like a box of chocolates.","author":"Winston Groom","tags":["humor"],"id":159552,"author_id":"Winston+Groom"},{"text":"I think that sitting there talking to Dan was a thing that had a great impression on my life. I know that being an idiot and all, I ain't supposed to have no philosophy of my own, but maybe it's just because nobody never too the time to talk to me about it. It was Dan's philosophy that everything that happen to us, or for that matter, to anything everywhere, is controlled by natural laws that govern the universe. His views were extremely complicated, but the gist of what he said begun to change my whole outlook on things.","author":"Winston Groom","tags":["change","impression","outlook","understand"],"id":165941,"author_id":"Winston+Groom"},{"text":"I get a letter once a week from my mama. She say everything fine at home.. I write her back too, when I can, but what I'm gonna tell her that won't start her bawling again? So I just say we is having a nice time and everybody treating us fine.","author":"Winston Groom","tags":["away","letter","love","mother","mothers","mothers-love","separation","understanding","white-lie"],"id":316003,"author_id":"Winston+Groom"}],"pagination":{"page":1,"page_size":10,"total":21,"pages":3,"next":"?page=2\u0026page_size=10"}}