All Quiet On The Western Front Quotations Log

Chapter/ Page # Significant

Quotation
Speaker Reason or
Significance for
Quotation
Selection
Chapter 1, Bottom
of Page 14
He it is still and yet
it is not he any
longer
Paul Baumer This quote really
caught my attention
because of the
significant yet
simple description
of death creeping up
on Kemmerich.
With the words and
yet it is not he any
longer it further
emphasizes the
effect war has on
people especially in
the result of the
badly wounded.
Chapter 2, Bottom
of second paragraph
on page 20
We, however, have
been gripped by it
and do not know
what the end may
be. We know only
that in some strange
and melancholy way
we have become a
waste land.
Paul Baumer This piece of text
stood out to me
because it shows the
deep understanding
of Paul Baumer to
the point of where
he understands how
early his life has
disappeared and
become an empty pit
hence the use of the
words waste land.
Chapter 3, Bottom
of Page 43
For instance, if you
train a dog to eat
potatoes and then
afterwards put a
piece of meat in
front of him, hell
snap at it, its his
nature. And if you
give a man a little
bit of authority he
behaves the same
way, he snaps at it
too.
Katczinsky The way Kats mind
works is very
interesting which is
why this popped out
to me. He has this
aura of
straightforward
honesty and
truthfulness to him
as shown here. if
you give a man a
little bit of
authority he snaps
at it too. The idea
of man snapping at
authority is very true
and Kat clearly
knows this.
Chapter 4, Middle of
Page 55
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,
Paul Baumer With the wording in
this quote I cant say
I was moved but I
definitely felt
something. The way
Paul described the
relationship between
a soldier and the
earth was, in a way,
sort of touching. It
gave me this feeling
of disgrace for
humanity that
disrespects the earth
with the words To
no man does earth
mean so much as to
the soldier.
Whereas the soldier
respects it and loves
it and uses it for
safety, as if earth is
his only salvation.
Chapter 5, Top of
Page 88
We were eighteen
and had begun to
love life and the
world; and we had
to shoot it to pieces.
The first bomb, the
first explosion, burst
in our hearts.
Paul Baumer These words further
support my viewing
of Paul Baumers
understanding to the
war and its effects
on not just him but
the entire younger
generation. The
first bomb, the first
explosion, burst in
our hearts. These
words express a loss
of life in the young
men and show that
Paul understands the
impact of war on the
whole youth of this
generation.
Chapter 6,
Paragraph 3 of Page
101
No soldier outlives
a thousand chances.
But every soldier
believes in Chance
and trusts his luck.
Paul Baumer I felt something
different when
reading this section
of paragraph. It hit
me by helping me to
realize that in this
world, we are given
so many chances to
do things and
change things. We
dont always take
that chance. But
here on the
battlefield, you
always take that
chance, because its
a chance that could
save your life. In
this second sentence
But every soldier
believes in Chance
and trusts his luck.
The word Chance
is capitalized, giving
chance a sense of
presence and further
emphasizing its
importance to a
soldier.
Chapter 7, Bottom
of the second
paragraph on page
165
but it is too
dangerous for me to
put these things into
words. I am afraid
they might then
become gigantic and
I be no longer able
to master them.
Paul Baumer The words Paul
thinks here but it
is too dangerous for
me to put these
things into words.
better help to show
how
impossible it is to
describe the true
horrors and realities
of war. Only the
soldiers that survive
it can really know
what it feels like,
and even then they
dont understand it.
But this makes it
impossible to
describe, with the
text I am afraid
they might then
become gigantic and
I be no longer able
to master them.
Paul expresses how
the media could
easily take his words
and use them
wrongly
misinterpreting them
and overdramatizing
the wrong things.
Chapter 8, the fifth
paragraph of page
193
A word of
command has made
these silent figures
our enemies; a word
of command might
transform them into
our friends.
Paul Baumer I realize from these
words that the
entirety of mankind
is to be questioned.
We follow the
orders of one
another and this
decides our relations
with other people,
just as easily the
orders could be
changed and create
new relations. A
word of command
has made these
silent figures our
enemies; this
shows to prove how
easy it is to make
people believe
another with a
simple command.
Chapter 9, The very
bottom of page 203
but our professors
and parsons and
newspapers say that
we are the only ones
that are right, and
lets hope so; ---but
the French
professors and
parsons and
Albert From reading this
argument from
Albert I can see that
war is truly a stupid
thing. As Albert
says, newspapers
say that we are the
ones that are right
but the French
newspapers say that
the right is on their
side, now what
about that?
professors and
parsons and
newspapers say that
the right is on their
side, This further
proves that war is
started over what
appears to be
reasonable reasons
and continued for
just the thought that
your own side is
correct. But if your
side is correct then
the other is wrong
but how can that be
if the other side is
correct? This shows
me that either both
sides are right, or
wrong, but either
way it must end in
one way or another.
Chapter 10,
Paragraph 3 of page
263
I am young, I am
twenty years old; yet
I know nothing of
life but despair,
death, fear, and
fatuous
superficiality cast
over an abyss of
sorrow.
Paul Baumer Touching words
these seem to me but
not in a very
touching way. I am
young yet I know
nothing of life but
despair These
words make me feel
a disgrace for the
drafting and
volunteerism of such
young soldiers.
They dont seem to
realize that they are
casting away their
lives and cannot/
will not be able to
win back their
innocent lives of
before.
Chapter 11, The
second paragraph of
page 272
It is as though
formerly we were
coins of different
Paul Baumer I found this thought
interesting as Paul
speaks of the
provinces; and now
are melted down,
and all bear the
same stamp.
soldiers and he as
coins It is as
though formerly we
were coins of
different provinces
as they are all the
same person yet
from different places
entirely. and now
are melted down,
and all bear the
same stamp. This
signifies the way
war has brought
them all to be the
same and affected
them all in the same
ways.

Chapter 12, Second
paragraph on Page
294
Now if we go back
we will be weary,
broken, burnt out,
rootless, and without
hope. We will not be
able to find our way
anymore.
Paul Baumer We will not be
able to find our way
anymore. Having to
endure this long hard
war at such a young
age, Paul explains
how lost he amongst
the other survivors
will be. The cruelties
and absurdities of
the war have gotten
to them and it is
nothing that they can
erase and rewire
themselves over.