The coffin, it shall protect me, though Death himself lies in it

We lie under the network of arching shells and live in a suspense of uncertainty. If a shot comes, we can duck, that is all; we neither know nor can determine where it will fall." - All Quiet On The Western Front, Ch. 6

... but that's what mankind is like: they only prize what they no longer possess.

We are little flames poorly sheltered by frail walls against the storm of dissolution and madness, in which we flicker and sometimes almost go out…we creep in upon ourselves and with big eyes stare into the night…and thus we wait for morning.

It was a melancholy secret that reality can arouse desires but never satisfy them.

My rage outweighs my shame, as always happens when one is really ashamed and knows he ought to be.

The idea of authority, which they represented, was associated in our minds with a greater insight and a more humane wisdom.