Eric Greitens is a senior fellow at the University of Missouri and the founder and director of The Mission Continues, a charity that helps wounded veterans find work back at home. A former Rhodes scholar and White House fellow, Greitens served as a Navy SEAL until he was wounded in Iraq.
"If you're in despair about America's future, meet my hero - Eric
Greitens.
His life and this book reminds us that America remains the land of
the brave and generous.
The heart and fist are just the combination we need." -Tom Brokaw
The Heart and the Fist might have been written in many countries,
but its ideals seem to me to be quintessentially American, from and
of the United States as she is at her best. That Eric
Greitens--Rhodes Scholar, Navy SEAL, international humanitarian
worker and founder of the veterans' aid organization, The Mission
Continues--is an extraordinary individual goes without saying. But
what resounds so powerfully in this book is his consciousness and
drive, from the earliest age, not to cash in on his own abundant
gifts but to find some path that was worthy of his highest self,
some way to be of use, to make a contribution and to really live a
life. This is very American. Mr. Greitens combines in one person
the warrior ethos of toughness, courage and tenacity with the
compassion of the humanitarian. This, too, is very American--not
just to win wars or to impose our will or point of view, but to act
in the service of others, on their own terms, to put others in
touch with their own capacity to manifest this flame that burns so
brightly in Mr. Greitens. If you're restless or itching for some
calling you can't name, read this book. Give it to your son and
daughter. The Heart and the Fist epitomizes--as does Mr. Greitens'
life, present and future--all that is best in this country, and
what we need desperately right now.- Steven Pressfield, author of
Gates of Fire "Eric Greitens is exactly the kind of citizen-warrior
that America needs to fight our wars abroad and to win our battles
at home. A man wise enough to lead, courageous enough to fight, and
compassionate enough to care, he has written a glorious book about
how to live with purpose that should be required reading for every
American."-Bobby Muller, Founder of Vietnam Veterans for America
and co-founder of the Nobel Peace Prize Winning International
Campaign to Ban Landmines "The Heart and the Fist is a vitally
important, powerful book, along the lines of Seven Pillars of
Wisdom by T.E. Lawrence (aka "Lawrence of Arabia"). Filled with
adventure, eminently readable, and an incredibly valuable look into
the heart and mind of a great man who would serve to guide us into
understanding an alien culture.
This book helps to bridge the gap between humanitarian groups and
the military (the "heart" and the "fist" ... who are, all too
often, truly "alien" to each other!), in the same way that Three
Cups of Tea helps bridge the gap between the people of Afghanistan,
and those of the West who would assist that nation.
As Three Cups of Tea and Seven Pillars of Wisdom have become
mandatory reading in many military organizations, The Heart and the
Fist is a seminal, paradigm-shifting work that should be mandatory
reading for every military and humanitarian organization who would
work together (who must work together!), around the planet, to make
our world a better place.
And, even more importantly, this book should be mandatory reading
for every citizen who cares about helping others, with our military
or with our humanitarian efforts, in a world filled with
starvation, suffering, tyranny, oppression and genocide.
This book has turned me into a believer in Eric Greitens'
methodology and his cause. Among the first of many to come!" -Lt.
Col. Dave Grossman, Lt. Col. USA (ret), author of On Combat and On
Killing "If the United States is going to continue to be the
indispensable nation in the 21st century, it is going to require an
elite corps of both warriors and humanitarians that combine hard
and soft power. Eric Greitens, both in his personal examp --
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