Eric GreitensReseñas

Not for everyone, but this book lit up nearly every one of my "favorite" buttons. Read it as a travelogue, adventure, people management, goal setting, inspiration, or unvarnished insight to Christian missionaries, NGO's, and the military elite. It's one of the few books I may read again.

I can no longer in good conscience recommend this book.



A very worthwhile read. This is not a gungho description of military action but is the story of a man's personal experience as a humanitarian and a US Navy SEAL. The gist of his story was not so much an autobiography but a story of a journey to understanding. The author as a young man travels the world doing humanitarian work and begins to understand that helping after the fact is not the answer but that the horrible acts of man that lead to the necessity of humanitarian aid need to be stopped before they happen. That is the reason that he becomes a SEAL. The author explains his philosophy of ways that humanitarians and the military alike could make changes and be better at both ends of the dilemma. During the course of the book, he also illustrates what it means to be a man whether he intends that message or not.

This is a book that anyone who is searching for some way to serve, to have an impact on the world, to achieve something important with their life would benefit from reading. I believe that a person searching for such meaning could come away from this book with a reinforced commitment to finding their personal mission and following after it.

As to the book itself, it was well written and easy to read. Each episode was interesting and full of details that made the episodes easy to visualize. It did not bog down anywhere and the reader got a very broad view of the different types of humanitarian efforts that go on in the world as well as a very good overview of what the SEALs and other special operations soldiers do.

This book was provided for me free for review from the publisher.

This marvelous book chronicles a number of letters from the author to a SEAL teammate. The one thought that really jumped out at me was "This guy is really well read." This makes sense since the little blurb thing says that he is a Rhodes Scholar, so I can well imagine.

Using inspirational bits of wisdom gleaned from several centuries of our history, Greitens talks about everything from Marcus Aurelius to Michel de Montaigne, from Lao Tze to Nietzsche. His main topic is Resilience, a quality that is important for living well. Using his own wisdom and those of others, Greitens talks about the importance of having many different things; a purpose, a mentor, friendships, and many other things.

It was very well done, though I would have finished it faster if I didn't have so many other books.

Resilience is the virtue that enables people to move through hardship and become better. No one escapes pain, fear, and suffering. Yet from pain can come wisdom, from fear can come courage, from suffering can come strength- if we have the virtue of resilience. Resilience is distinct from mere survival and more than mere endurance. Resilience is often endurance with direction. We learn best about resilience not when we focus on dramatic moments, but when we take in the arc of our whole lives. Resilience is cultivated not so we can perform welling a single instance but so that we can live a full and flourishing life. That is the message of Eric Greitens' book. The book is more than simple advice. Resilience is a book steeped in the language of the Greek philosophers . It is a series of letters written by Greiten a former Navy SEAL to another former Navy SEAL who has had trouble adjusting to civilian life. There are 23 letters which cover how resilience relates to every aspect of life. The contents of these letters are not just applicable those in the service. The messages in these letters can apply to anyone trying to rebuild or improve their life. With most books I recommend the reader get the book from the library before buying it. This book is the exception to that rule. This a book you will want to read over again and contemplate its message. I was emotionally moved by this writer's prose. This is a book you will want to give as a high school graduation gift. Your sons and daughters will benefit from reading this book and learning about the virtues of resilience.

The Heart and the Fist is an autobiography by humanitarian and Navy SEAL, Eric Grietens detailing his experiences and his endeavors as a volunteer and a soldier in various communities around the world. From refugee communities such as Rwanda and Bosnia to orphans and abused children in Bolivia to caring for the disabled in Mother Theresa’s home in Calcutta and even as a trainee in BUD/S and OCS and finally as a soldier in Iraq and Afghanistan. One similarity that really struck me from all the communities is that no matter where you are there will always be people willing to help you no matter how dire their own situation is – the man who shared a biscuit with him in Mother Theresa’s home to the teamwork and camaraderie with his team at BUD/S. We need communities to help one another.
One of the challenges that I really related to are the ones he faced in his SEAL training. He mentions having to uphold pointless and redundant cleaning standards and having to go through various grueling exercises and training situations that pushed his body to the very limit. But, he did all this with a team, his team, a group he called his brothers. They all went through the same thing day in, day out and formed a bond that cannot be easily replicated in any other situation or community. The first time this bond was tested was during “Hell Week”, - the toughest challenge in his journey to becoming a Navy SEAL. His teammates were tired and frustrated and constantly argued with each other. Though they argued a lot they made it through the week, albeit there were a lot of drop-outs, and managed to graduate the course together.
Overall, this was an excellent read and I highly recommend this book.

Greitens, a Rhodes Scholar and humanitarian whose work took him to Rwanda, Albania, Mexico, India, Croatia, Bolivia, and Cambodia, recounts his unexpected decision to join the Navy SEALS. “We can certainly donate money and clothing, and we can volunteer in the refugee camps. But in the end these acts of kindness are done after the fact. They are done after people have been killed, their homes burned, their lives destroyed. Yes, the clothing, the bread, the school; they are all good and they are all much appreciated. But I suppose we have to behave the same way we would if any person – our kids, our sisters, brother, parents – were threatened. If we really care about these people, we have to be willing to protect them from harm”(64). Very well written, Greitens also includes his BUD/S training, deployment experiences, and founding The Mission Continues.

The first half (approximately) of the book was five star excellent. In it, the author talks about being in refugee camps in several places around the world. A bit about his school and the philosophy of helping those in need around the world. He asks some hard questions and tells some sad stories. Well written and moving.

The second part of the book tells the author's experiences going thru Navy Seal training. Fascinating and difficult. The latter section of the book has a few stories of his Seal experience and then a little about a charity for vets the author started. It was a little disjointed and didn't have the same flow and depth as some of the previous material.

I read this book over the summer for school. "The Warriors Heart" is a very motivational book that describes the characteristics of a real man unlike me.

If you want to become a seal when you get to the legal age, this book can tell you what it's like to train and strengthen through the pain. There are also many crazy stories of genocide, poverty, and helping people in times of war.

You should read this book because it can motivate you to do amazing things. It proves that you can do whatever it is your mind is set to. After reading this book, I would love to become a seal member because you will become a real man and help the world. I would give this book two thumbs up if I could.

In this teen adaptation of Greitens’ memoir “The Heart and the Fist,” he writes to readers in matter-of-fact, easy to understand language, speaking of volunteerism and goal setting in short, detailed chapters. He also includes photographs, a heart-to-heart discussion titled “Your Mission,” and a “Notes” section.

Read the rest of my review (and follow my blog for your own inboxed reviews) at: http://shouldireaditornot.wordpress.com/2012/10/01/the-warriors-heart-becoming-a...

A Missouri boy who grew up loving Choose Your Own Adventure books gets to do just that as he becomes an adult. Blessed with a good heart and a sound mind and body, he attends Duke University, spending his breaks from school doing service projects in China, Bosnia, Rwanda, and Bolivia.

With a resume like that, it is no surprise that he becomes a Rhodes Scholar studying at Oxford. To do research on his humanitarian dissertation he works with Mother Teresa in Calcutta and travels in Cambodia, Mexico, and Albania, taking photographs and meeting the people on the streets and in refugee centers. He learned that compassionate assistance "meant nothing if a warlord could command a militia and take control of the very place humanitarians were trying to aid. The world needs many more humanitarians than it needs warriors, but there can be none of the former without enough of the latter." (125) He is offered a position at Oxford and in a consulting firm that would pay him more money than his parents made together. So what does he do? He enlists in the U. S. Navy with the hopes to become a Navy SEAL so that he could help "fight the world's fight."

I can't say enough good things about this memoir that was entertaining, informative, and, most of all, inspiring. What a great choice for Missouri State to require its freshman class of 2014 to read and discuss with their professors in classes and small groups. I hope some of them are fired up enough to consider service to their communities and countries as a way to alleviate some of the suffering that goes on in the world. Tom Brokaw gets the message of this book just right: "At the heart of this powerful story lies a paradox: sometimes you have to be strong to do good, but you also have to do good to be strong. The heart and the fist together are more powerful than either one alone." Highly recommended.½

Fast read with interesting perspective. Heavy on Seal training. Not just kill the bad guy more about communication and building relationships.

Absolutely amazing, inspirational, and powerful! Eric Greitens takes young readers on his missions across the world and along the way asks them, "What would you do when faced with such-and-such difficult decisions?" He does not sugarcoat anything but nor does he overdramatize the situations. I cannot wait to get this book into the hands of our young readers and I am very glad it was chosen as a Texas Lone Star book!

This is a non-fiction 2014 one Star selection. I think many of you will really like this book.

Eric Greitens writes a biography about himself, but it’s more about how his choices can help others make choices to become better people. He begins with his family and how his parents told him he needed to go to college. He also knew he would need the money, so he started his own lawn mowing business where he learned that going on a date, meant 2 ½ lawns to mow. He figured how many lawns he needed to mow and how much he needed to save for college and worked hard to create a successful business. He mowed lawns for Roger for eight years. Eric says he learned about doing one’s best from him. Eric said he “needed to understand the world beyond myself.” Therefore, when he was 16, Eric went with Bruce Carl, the director of Youth Leadership in St. Louis, to a homeless shelter. Bruce said, “I want you to listen. Learn.” Eric said that that advice has been his cornerstone throughout life.

To continue to learn about the world, Eric spent his summers of college in various places around the world. At 18, before starting school at Duke University, Eric chose to go to China because he had seen pictures of the massacre of Chinese students in Beijing on TV. He wanted to work with the Chinese and help teach them English and he learned Kung Fu while there. Once he begins college, he learns to box and he learns other lessons about life from his trainer. He trains every year and each summer, he volunteers with refugees in dangerous parts of the world: Croatia, Rwanda, Zaire, and Bolivia. He tells about each country and what he learned from each experience. He takes a respite and is awarded a Rhodes Scholarship and lives in Oxford to complete his Graduate degree for several years.

When he turns 26, he decides that he can serve the world as a Navy Seal. Like the refugee camps, Eric tells what it was like to train as a Seal. When he was at the end of his training, the United States was attacked by terrorists on September 11, 2001. After training was complete, he was deployed to battle. His message is that if you want change, you have to be part of the change instead of hoping someone else will do it. It’s an uplifting novel that challenges you to take advantage of life to make the world a better place.

Fascinating memoir by a Rhodes scholar and Oxford Ph.D. who joined the Navy SEALs, served in Afrganistan and Iraq, and now runs a non-profit that helps disabled and wounded vets pursue humanitarian work. Earnest, thoughtful and insightful.

Good adaptation for young adults of Greitens's memoir The Heart and the Fist.

Book details both the need for humanitarian aid and military might to ensure the aid gets to the correct people. The author is a rare person who has been able to contribute directly to both missions. Eric Grietens appreciates the education he has received and that he has been blessed with the opportunity to with teams of special forces men and military members whose goal is to make the world a safer place to live. His message makes one appreciate the luck and benefits of being born American.

I was expecting a gung-ho "how I survived SEAL training" story when I picked this one up, and I was really surprised at both the content and the structure of this adapted memoir. Eric Greitens grew up in St. Louis in an average family, and went to college at Duke University. Through grants and fellowships, he traveled to China, Rwanda, Croatia and Bolivia, where he worked with humanitarian groups to help war refugees, orphans and to document the lives of these people through photography. His Rhodes Scholar thesis was that "what matters for people who have suffered is not what they are given, it is what they do." The way to help communities recover is to empower them to do their own work and succeed. Greitens decided to see if he had the courage to match his beliefs, and applied to the US Navy, with the understanding that he had to complete Officer Candidate School in order to get a one-time-only chance to go to Basic Underwater Demolition/SEAL training. Part of the book is descriptions of his experiences in training, and parts take readers into the world of places that he visited, and the experiences and people who have shaped his life. Between those are short pieces written in italicized second person ("what do you do?") presenting choices directly to the reader. This is a moving memoir that will keep you thinking, with plenty of action and SEAL stories to keep you turnng the pages. 8th grade and up.

A good quick read. The author is quite the impressive do-gooder/over acheiver. He's done more already then I will ever do. We need more people like him

Great book. Eric is pretty modest, or so it seams, discussing his early education, getting into college, and then becoming a Rhodes scholar. He shows the need for both humanitarian and the warrior in today's word.

In The Heart and the Fist, Eric Greitens wrote a modern day hero story, at least for me. I totally enjoyed following his journey around the world as a volunteer and then into SEAL training and beyond. Greitens meets the challenges of today’s youth with a strength and maturity and leads the way for others to follow him into a stronger, deeper life. Greitens writes of the suffering clearly, but allows the humanity of the suffering to shine through. Instead of using his thorough education to fill his pockets, he shows others how it is possible to be educated and a warrior. His descriptions of SEAL training are interesting and eye opening, as are his observations as a ‘more mature’ trainee. I loved this book, and as a teacher, I wish I could get every teen-ager to read it.

This was an outstanding book. For one thing, it was written by a Rhodes Scholar. For another, it stands apart from nearly all books on the topic of international relations. Most will take the side of pacifistic help, but don't fight or the other side of the coin: Kill 'em all, let God sort 'em out. I believe Mr Greitens sums up his theme well when he says: "The world needs many more humanitarians than it needs warriors, but there can be none of the former without enough of the latter.”

I'd recommend this book for: Everyone

The news about Osama bin Laden caused me to want to learn more about the Navy Seals. This book was the first to catch my attention and was not the kind of book I expected it to be. I can see why it had five star reviews on Amazon. I had no idea Rhodes scholars like Eric Grietens would find themselves in the Navy Seals, but I'm glad they do. It restores some of my confidence in the US military and the often difficult job they do. Call this an antidote to the Jon Krakauer book about Pat Tillman, Where Men Win Glory.

Barb reviewed this