For us lads of eighteen they ought to have been mediators and guides to the world of maturity, the world of work, of duty, of culture, of progress -- to the future.
Erich Maria RemarqueRead
To no man does the earth mean so much as to the soldier. When he presses himself down upon her long and powerfully, when he buries his face and his limbs deep in her from the fear of death by shell-fire, then she is his only friend, his brother, his mother; he stifles his terror and his cries in her silence and her security; she shelters him and releases him for ten seconds to live, to run, ten seconds of life; receives him again and again and often forever.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote highlights the profound bond between a soldier and the earth, emphasizing the comfort and refuge it provides amidst the chaos of war.
Erich Maria Remarque's quote encapsulates the intimate relationship between soldiers and the land during times of warfare. For a soldier, the earth transforms into a sanctuary where fear is confronted, and the instinct to survive prevails. This bond is forged in moments of desperation, where the earth becomes a source of solace, embodying the essence of companionship, protection, and the fleeting nature of life in battle. It symbolizes the duality of war—one of peril and safety—reflecting the soldier's reliance on the ground for both physical and psychological refuge.
Themes
SoldierEarthWarFearFriendshipSurvival
In practice
Example use cases
During a military memorial service, this quote can be used to honor the sacrifices made by soldiers.
More from Erich Maria Remarque
All quotes →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.
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Anyway the war is over so far as they are concerned. But to wait for dysentery is not much of a life either.
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We are little flames poorly sheltered by frail walls against the storm of dissolution and madness, in which we flicker and sometimes almost go out…we creep in upon ourselves and with big eyes stare into the night…and thus we wait for morning.
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There was only the broad square with the scattered dim moons of the street lamps and with the monumental stone arch which receded into the mist as though it would prop up the melancholy sky and protect beneath itself the faint lonely flame on the tomb of the Unknown Soldier, which looked like the last grave of mankind in the midst of night and loneliness.
Erich Maria RemarqueRead
(Ravic speaking of a butterfly caught in the Louvre) In the morning it would search for flowers and life and the light honey of blossoms and would not find them and later it would fall asleep on millennial marble, weakened by then, until the grip of the delicate, tenacious feet loosened and it fell, a thin leaf of premature autumn.
Erich Maria RemarqueRead
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