I had often thought that if I managed to live through the war I wouldn't expect too much of life. How could one resent disappointment in love if life itself was continuously in doubt? Since Belgorod, terror had overturned all my preconceptions, and the pace of life had been so intense one no longer knew what elements of ordinary life to abandon in order to maintain some semblance of balance. I was still unresigned to the idea of death, but I had already sworn to myself during moments of intense fear that I would exchange anything - fortune, love, even a limb - if I could simply survive.
death fortune life love soldier survive war world-war-ii

About This Quote

About Guy Sajer, The Forgotten Soldier

Guy Sajer, The Forgotten Soldier.

Themes

  • Death — Contemplations on mortality, loss, and the legacy we leave
  • Life — Reflections on the meaning, challenges, and beauty of life
  • Love — Quotes exploring romantic love, compassion, and human connection
  • War — Reflections on conflict, peace, and the human cost of war

More quotes by Guy Sajer, The Forgotten Soldier

“Only happy people have nightmares, from overeating. For those who live a nightmare reality, sleep is a black hole, lost in time, like death.”
— Guy Sajer, The Forgotten Soldier
death dreams happy nightmares

“Then there was the war, and I married it because there was nothing else when I reached the age of falling in love.”
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love marriage soldier war

“War always reaches the depths of horror because of idiots who perpetuate terror from generation to generation under the pretext of vengeance.”
— Guy Sajer, The Forgotten Soldier
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“No time to spare: the expression assumed its full significance, as so many expressions do in wartime.”
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soldier war world-war-ii

“The problems I had existed before I did, and I discovered them.”
— Guy Sajer, The Forgotten Soldier
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“What happened next? I retain nothing from those terrible minutes except indistinct memories which flash into my mind with sudden brutality, like apparitions, among bursts and scenes and visions tha...”
— Guy Sajer, The Forgotten Soldier
battle soldier war world-war-ii
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