Jack Reacher: What I've Learned

Drifter, 52

Published in the January 2013 issue

Tom Cruise plays Reacher in the new movie Jack Reacher.

Interviewed by Lee Child

I have seen things I wish I hadn't seen. But they existed anyway. So seeing them doesn't make me sad. It makes me realistic.

Tribalism is the defining human condition. We'll never get rid of it. All we can do is recognize it, regret it, and manage it.

A pool cue is the best weapon in a bar fight. And bars generally provide them for you, all lined up in racks, which is considerate.

I'm not afraid of death. Death's afraid of me. Those are the kind of things we say for courage. Eventually we believe them, which makes them true, in a way.

Fighting is a mental process, not physical. The second you realize where the thing is heading, start swinging. Never take the first blow. That's just plain dumb.

Make your first hit count. Your opponent needs to be out of action, which he will be if you do it right. Life is not like the movies. They don't shake it off and spit on the sidewalk and come right back. They're sick and dizzy all week — if they're lucky.

This is the home of the brave and the land of the free. Or is it? Those are targets, not descriptions. We need to calibrate daily. Are we as brave and as free as we could be?

Women are a catch-22 for me. I like them smart, but the smarter they are, the less likely they are to put up with me. After the first day, that is. But the first day is always fun.

The best-ever sex with a woman is the second time. The first time's tricks and anxieties can be forgotten. There's a general sense of what works and what doesn't. You're not bored yet. Second time around, you're ready to rock 'n' roll.

When you're hitchhiking, you can't believe a word that drivers say. Harmless fantasy is part of the deal. I have met cubicle drones who claim to be managers, and managers who claim to be entrepreneurs, and entrepreneurs who claim to be successful. People like to inhabit a different life for an hour or two, testing it, tasting it, basking in a phony glow.

I liked being in the Army. And I like being out of the Army. It was a job, that's all. We took pride in doing it well, but we laughed at the preachers and politicians who thought it was a noble calling.

After exhausting all other possibilities, America will always do the right thing.

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