Quotes from Erich Maria Remarque

they are the strongest, most comforting thing there is anywhere: they are the voices of my comrades.

Jeder Soldat bleibt nur durch tausend Zufälle am Leben. Und jeder Soldat glaubt und vertraut dem Zufall

The orchestra sounds a flourish. A chap with a chrysanthemum in his buttonhole comes to the front and explains that a couple will now give a demonstration of the latest thing from Berlin—a fox trot! That is unknown here as yet; we have only heard tell of it.

Die Stille ist die Ursache dafür, daß die Bilder des Früher nicht so sehr Wünsche erwecken als Trauer – eine ungeheure, fassungslose Schwermut. Sie waren – aber sie kehren nicht wieder. Sie sind vorbei, sie sind eine andere Welt, die für uns vorüber ist.

crouching like cats we run on, overwhelmed by this wave that bears us along, that fills us with ferocity, turns us into thugs, into murderers, into God only knows what devils; this wave that multiplies our strength with fear and madness and greed of life, seeking and fighting for nothing but our deliverance.

Das Grauen läßt sich ertragen, solange man sich einfach duckt; aber es tötet, wenn man darüber nachdenkt

Surm ei ole Å¡ovinist.

Was werden unsere Väter tun, wenn wir einmal aufstehen und vor sie hintreten und Rechenschaft fordern?

Wir sind überflüssig für uns selbst

das verlorene Bereitsein meiner Jugend

He fell in October 1918, on a day that was so quiet and still on the whole front, that the army report confined itself to the single sentence: All quiet on the Western Front.

Kaži mi, Georg - pitam kad smo skrenuli u Hakenštrase, - Jesi li ti stvarno sre?an? Georg Krol skine šešir ne?emu nevidljvom u no?i. -Drugo pitanje! - kaže on. - Koliko se može izdržati sede?i na vrhu igle?

I think it is more of a kind of fever," says Albert. "No one in particular wants it, and then all at once there it is. We didn't want the war, the others say the same thing—and yet half the world is in it all the same.

While they continued to write and talk, we saw the wounded and dying. While they taught that duty to one's country is the greatest thing, we already knew that death-throes are stronger.

when I hear the word 'peace-time,' it goes to my head: and if it really came, I think I would do some unimaginable thing—something, you know, that it's worth having lain here in the muck for. But I can't even imagine anything. All I do know is that this business about professions and studies and salaries and so on—it makes me sick, it is and always was disgusting.

I tell you it is the vilest business to use horses in the war.

NajchÄ™tniej jestem sam, wtedy nikt mi nie przeszkadza. Bo wszyscy stale wracajÄ… do tematu [...]. Z pewnoÅ›ciÄ… i ja tak dawniej ?yÅ'em, ale teraz nie umiem siÄ™ do tego przystosowa?. Za wiele gadajÄ…. MajÄ… troski, cele, ?yczenia, których nie mogÄ™ ujmowa? tak jak oni. [...] Tak sÄ… podzieleni, rozdrobnieni, ?aden nie odczuwa tego caÅ'ym swym jestestwem; ja sam nie umiem dobrze okreÅ›li?, co mam na myÅ›li.

Iron Youth. Youth! We are none of us more than twenty years old. But young? Youth? That is long ago. We are old folk.

We all feed on one another. Such occasional little sparks of kindliness—that's something one shouldn't allow to be taken away. It strengthens one for a difficult life.

ALREADY KNOW the camp on the moors. It was here that Himmelstoss gave Tjaden his education. But now I know hardly anyone here; as ever, all is altered. There are only a few people that I have occasionally met before. I go through the routine mechanically. In the evenings I generally

Kad se želi živeti, onda se još nešto i voli. Tada je teže, ali i lakše. Eto, ja bih i onako morala da umrem, a sad sam zadovoljna što imam tebe. Mogla sam biti sama i nesre?na. Tada bih želela da umrem. Ovako je teže, ali sam puna ljubavi, kao p?ela meda kad se uve?e vra?a u košnicu. Kad bih mogla da biram, uvek bih izabrala ovo isto.

Ya no somos jóvenes. Ya no queremos conquistar el mundo. Somos fugitivos. Huimos de nosotros mismos. De nuestra vida. Teníamos dieciocho años y empezábamos a amar el mundo y la existencia; tuvimos que disparar contra eso. La primera granada que explosionó, lo hizo en nuestro corazón. Estamos al margen de la actividad, del esfuerzo, del progreso. Ya no creemos en nada de eso; creemos en la guerra.

Die Angst am Tage ist vernünftig; die Angst der Nacht ist ohne Grenzen.

That is Franz Kemmerich, nineteen and a half years old, he doesn't want to die. Let him not die!