Nothing is the mirror in which you see the world.

In any case, the bayonet isn't as important as it used to be. It's more usual now to go into the attack with hand-grenades and your entrenching tool. The sharpened spade is a lighter and more versatile weapon - not only can you get a man under the chin, but more to the point, you can strike a blow with a lot more force behind it. That's especially true if you can bring it down diagonally between the neck and the shoulder, because then you can split down as far as the chest. When you put a bayonet in, it can stick, and you have to give the other man a hefty kick in the guts to get it out.

Suddenly I become filled with a consuming impatience to be gone.

Life did not intend to make us perfect. Whoever is perfect belongs in a museum.

Sweet dreams though the guns are booming.

Someone said to me once that a cigarette at the right moment is better than all the ideals in the world.

With blinded eyes I stared at the sky, this grey, endless sky of a crazy god, who had made life and death for his amusement.