It was one of those gruesome stories that would seem to encapsulate the madness of the Troubles: a widowed mother of ten, hauled off in the middle of the night. Even by the pitiless standards of the time, it was a shocking crime.Patrick Radden Keefe
The way we choose to remember our history can say a lot about us.Patrick Radden Keefe
Societies that cannot construct a harmonious picture of the past will replay their old grudges in the future.Patrick Radden Keefe
In the absence of justice, in the failure of it, there is only the brute transference of private pain.Patrick Radden Keefe
Memory is a canvas – stretched, primed, and ready for painting on. We love the 'story' part of history.Patrick Radden Keefe
There is nothing noble about warfare, nothing dignified or sweet. It is gruesome and horrible and it makes monsters of men.Patrick Radden Keefe
Forgetfulness is necessary to life. If we remembered everything, we would be unable to act.Patrick Radden Keefe
The truth, it turned out, was much messier. It involved not a clear-cut heroism but many shades of gray.Patrick Radden Keefe
Secrecy can be corrosive, and truth can provide liberation.Patrick Radden Keefe
It turned out that in a brutal, drawn-out conflict, even people who consider themselves nonviolent can end up doing terrible things.Patrick Radden Keefe
They had all colluded in this conspiracy of silence, and it had ruined them.Patrick Radden Keefe
Remembering, it turns out, is a political act. Forgetting is too.Patrick Radden Keefe