Quote Bank on 'All Quiet on the Western Front

All Quiet on the Western Front: Quote Bank | Chapter | Page Number | Quote | Analysis | Chpt 1 | Pg 8 | “… But it wasn’t easy to stay out of it because at that time even our parents used the word ‘coward’ at the drop of a hat. People simply didn’t have the slightest idea of what was coming. As a matter of fact it was the poorest and simplest people who were most sensible” | * Theme: Betrayal | | Pg 9 | “ While they went on writing and making speeches, we saw field hospitals and men dying: while they preached the service of the state as the greatest thing, we already knew that the fear of death is even greater.” | * | | | “Suddenly we found ourselves horribly alone – and we had to come to terms with it alone as well.” | | | Pg 13 | “Young men of iron. Young? None of us is more than twenty. But young? Young men? That was a long time ago. We are old now” | * Ideology: The lost generation * They are forced to grow up due to the brutality and violence they experienced first-hand. * | Chpt 2 | Pg 14 | “The war swept us away. For the other, for the old men, the war is an interruption.” | * Ideology: The lost generation * They weren’t able to experience life and to grow up and experience ‘normal’ * | | | “All we know for the moment is that in some strange and melancholy way we have become hardened, although we don’t often feel sad about it anymore.” | | | Pg 15 | “We have lost our ability to see things in other ways, because they are artificial. For us, it is only the facts that count. And good boots are hard to come by.” | * In reference to the ‘flying boots’ * Ideology: self-interest | | Pg 16 | “With our young, wide-open eyes we saw that the classical notion of patriotism we had heard from our teachers meant, in practical terms at that moment, surrendering our individual personalities more completely than we would ever have believed possible.” | * Theme: betrayal | | Pg 19 | “We became tough, suspicious,