It's all rot that they put in the war-news about the good humour of the troops, how they are arranging dances almost before they are out of the front-line. We don't act like that because we are in a good humour: we are in a good humour because otherwise we should go to pieces.
Erich Maria RemarqueNo matter how improbable an assertion is, if it is made with enough assurance it has an affect.
Erich Maria RemarqueNever do anything complicated when something simple will serve as well. It's one of the most important secrets of living.
Erich Maria RemarqueWe are forlorn like children, and experienced like old men, we are crude and sorrowful and superficialโI believe we are lost.
Erich Maria RemarqueHow senseless is everything that can ever be written, done, or thought, when such things are possible. It must be all lies and of no account when the culture of a thousand years could not prevent this stream of blood being poured out, these torture-chambers in their hundreds of thousands. A hospital alone shows what war is.
Erich Maria RemarqueIn 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.
Erich Maria Remarque