José N. Harris
José N. Harris was born in Detroit, Michigan on December 25, 1962. He lived there for several years before his family relocated to Juan Aldama, Zacatecas, Mexico and later the border town of Tijuana, Mexico. His mother, a migrant farm worker, would travel back and forth between Ventura County, California and Tijuana for work, sometimes taking José and his siblings with her.
José eventually ended up in and out of the foster care system. At the age of 17, He enlisted in the US Army where he obtained his GED and became an Army medic. He volunteered for and became a Paratrooper and an Army Ranger. Later he earned his “Green Beret” as a Special Forces Medical Sergeant. He served in Central America in the 1980s. He was honorably discharged from the US Army in 1987 and enlisted in the Army Reserves where he continued to serve in the 12th Special Forces Group.
Harris married and had two daughters while pursuing his education at the University of California at Irvine where he received his B.A. in both Psychology (with Honor’s) and Psychobiology. He entered the University of California at Berkeley Psychology M.A. /Ph.D. program. He was divorced and then he completed his Ph.D. in Psychology at Hebrew University of Jerusalem/WUJS in Israel. He also completed post doctoral studies in behavioral neurology at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem at the Hadassah Medical Center. He remained in Israel, where he had private practices in psychology and neuropsychology. He served as the Chief Neuropsychologist at the Sarah Herzog Memorial Hospital in the division of Neuropsychogeriatrics and in the Neurobehavorial Clinic, where he supervised psychologists, psychiatrists and neurologists. He also taught as an Associate Professor, at both the Institute of Technology, Arts and Science, Holon and at The Technion University in Haifa, Israel.
Upon returning to the United States, Dr. Harris pursued a career in social services as a Family Law Mediator, Adoptions Specialist, and as a Program Director for multiple adoption and foster programs in the San Francisco Bay area. He also served as the chief operations officer at a large medical facility in Northern California.
A few years later, he began work on his book, MI VIDA: a Story of Faith, Hope and Love. He is currently working on his second book- UNDECLARED WARS: Central America in the 1980s. And also a Spanish translation of "MI VIDA."
José currently resides in Luzon, The Philippines.
“Two basic steps to turning your life around:1. Have faith in God.2. Man up.”
“Amateurs train until they get it right. Professionals train until they cannot get it wrong.”
“Is it wrong to say that I would not mind having your peanut butter on my chocolate?”
“The sad truth is that... many people are, in fact- stupid; given proper motivation, almost anyone will believe almost anything. Because they are stupid, they will believe a lie because they want to believe it's true, or because they are afraid it might be true. Some people's heads are full of knowledge, facts, and beliefs, and most of it is false, yet they think it all true.”
“My blade, sharp. My incision, perfect. A Surgeon Warrior. I can use a knife to take a life or to save one. We were trained to revel in action, to translate perceptions into instant judgements, and these jugements into actions that were at times- irrevocable, monumentous and dreadful. We did all this with lightning speed, in conditions of great stress and in an environment of high tension in which what was expected of "us" was the impossible, yet we delivered just that.”
“THEM AND US For them it was the 6 o'clock news. For us it was reality. They called for pizza. We called for medevacs. Their passion was success. Our passion was survival. They learned of life. We learned of death. They served dinner. We served our coutry. They can forget. We cannot.”
“If you become involved in a crisis situation, you will not rise to the occasion but, rather, default to your level of training.”
“It is the individual effort that matters; the ability to take one more step; to understand that the pain of finishing is intense, but finite. In comparison to the the pain of quitting... which is unbearable and eternal.”
“Take one vial of my blood and I will not die. But if you continue taking it, one vial at a time... slowly... I will die, slowly. But make no mistake. I will die. It is the same with my rights.”
“CHARACTER... demonstrate it.”
“Our Obligations are... to smile when happy; to give meaning to this life; to try to give a little more than we have taken; to honor our Father for his kindness; to not ignore those suffering or in need; and to try to make this world a slightly better place before we leave it.”
“There are moments in life, when just the right words, can be as powerful as acts.”
“How do you know you're whether or not you can do something, unless you try?”
“I am a kind of paranoid in reverse. I suspect people of having good intentions.”
“Try to be better than yourself.”
“This world has turned into a place where you can get stabbed in the back for trying climbing a ladder.”
“When faced with any problem, it is important to know where you, yourself, stand... to know what you believe, where you are acting from and why. After that, your options become clear.”
“I have found that the tools for my trade- writing, are very basic: paper, a pen, time, food and perhaps a little tequila...”
“The difference between wisdom and foolishness lies within our dreams. To spend all day dreaming, instead of working to reach our dreams is pointless.”
“In order to be able to accomplish anything new, the first thing we need to do is to teach ourselves... not to be so afraid.”
“Part of being honest with yourself,Is to be ashamed of yourself, from time to time. Nobody is perfect. Least of all, me.”
“Its not the size of the man who loves God that'simportant, rather its the size of their love for God.”
“Some men speak the word of God...while others have God in their words.”
“Who are you today? Are you a gulfstream, uplifting others... or are you a bad parachute?”
“Not all scars are visible. Regardless, they are usually painful when you first get them. But with time they might fade or they can remain and become a beautiful reminder... that you survived.”
“You see, violence merely creates more violence.It's a cycle that never ends...You insult me, I shoot you, you drop dead.Someone else insults me, I shoot them, they drop dead...And it just keeps repeating over and over again.And for what? lol”
“Today's plan:Kick @ss.Take Names.Repeat As Necessary.”
“And the King will say, 'I tell you the truth, when you did it to one of the least of these my brothers and sisters, you were doing it to me!' - MATT 25-40”
“Trust me, I'm an SF medic.This won't hurt... me.'You?'I'm not so sure, it'll probably hurt a lot.”
“Be nice to everyone you meet...but always have a plan to kill them.”
“I'm slowly losing faith in humanity, one idiot at a time...”
“There’s a difference between interest and commitment.When you’re interested in doing something, you do it when circumstances permit.But when you’re committed to something, you accept no excuses... only results.”
“Blessed are the peacemakerswho run to the sound of the gun,who in the heart of darknesshave but one message to deliver..."Make Peace or Die”
“I may be an angel, but I am not a saint.My role is not to stoically ignore evil,but to get close to it, then destroy it.”
“I just Googled "Ninjas".It came back "Ninjas cannot be found."- Well played Ninjas... well played.”
“Be nice... until it's time to not be nice!”
“In Japanese culture it is said that if a vase is accidently broken and then glued back together, it becomes even more beautiful... regardless of its defects. It can be the same with people.”
“Sometimes we need to do things we'd rather not do, in order to get the peace that we need; to look after our own well-being and to return to a healthy state. Decisions we may make may hurt others at times. Sometimes it hurts us too. I have found myself in situations like this recently. It a hard choice. But truly, there are times that we have to take care of ourselves. Sometimes there are no good choices, just painful ones... Sometimes that's just how real life is.”
“Some people want to believe they can be an instant hero in eveyday life. A real hero is someone that stands by your side and appreciates you everyday!”
“Q. What's the secret shortcut to being succesful in life?A. Stop looking for shortcuts.”
“Time...Disguised gently as the warm glow of your love’s kiss, Can turn grief into beauty.”
“the Secret Service trains its agents to identify counterfeit bills by having them handle every possible kind of real REAL bill. Old ones. New ones. Wrinkled ones. Freshly minted ones. Once you you are surounded by and you know what "real" is, it is easy to identify a fake. It's the same with people...”
“In the end... the truth is one of the most powerful weapons we can wield. It can overcome lies, manipulations and deceit. People can try to use other tactics, but the truth is so poweful, you don't even need to hide behind it. It can make bullies cower. It stands for itself. I dedicate my day, today.... to the truth!”
“I don't believe in revenge. It's unnecessary. I prefer using a very discreet psychological intervention topped of with a short burst of extreme violence!”