Keep things at arm's length... If you let anything come too near you want to hold on to it. And there is nothing a man can hold on to. Erich Maria Remarque More Quotes by Erich Maria Remarque More Quotes From Erich Maria Remarque The room shall speak, it must catch me up and hold me, I want to feel that I belong here, I want to hearken and know when I go back to the front line that the war will sink down, be drowned utterly in the great home-coming tide, know that it will then be past for ever, and not gnaw us continually, that it will have none but an outward power over us...Nothing stirs; listless and wretched, like a condemned man, I sit there and the past withdraws itself. And at the same time I fear to importune it too much, because I do not know what might happen then. I am a soldier, I must cling to that. Erich Maria Remarque home war past Bombardment, barrage, curtain-fire, mines, gas, tanks, machine-guns, hand-grenades - words, words, but they hold the horror of the world. Erich Maria Remarque gun fire hands On the steps is a machine-gun ready for action. The square is empty; only the streets that lead into it are jammed with people. It would be madness to go farther - the machine-gun is covering the square. Erich Maria Remarque gun squares people We're no longer young men. We've lost any desire to conquer the world. We are refugees. We are fleeing from ourselves. From our lives. We were eighteen years old, and we had just begun to love the world and to love being in it; but we had to shoot at it. The first shell to land went straight for our hearts. We've been cut off from real action, from getting on, from progress. We don't believe in those things any more; we believe in the war. Erich Maria Remarque real war believe No soldier outlives a thousand chances. Erich Maria Remarque chance thousand soldier You take it from me, we are losing the war because we can salute too well. Erich Maria Remarque salute losing war Anyway the war is over so far as they are concerned. But to wait for dysentery is not much of a life either. Erich Maria Remarque wait over war life The later it gets the more disturbed the city becomes. I go with Albert through the streets. Men are standing in groups at every corner. Rumours are flying. It is said that the military have already fired on a procession of demonstrating workers. Erich Maria Remarque city go flying men They are more human and more brotherly towards one another, it seems to me, than we are. But perhaps that is merely because they feel themselves to be more unfortunate than us. Erich Maria Remarque human more feel me Any non-commissioned officer is more of an enemy to a recruit, any schoolmaster to a pupil, then they are if they were free. Erich Maria Remarque then more free enemy
