“Here is one of the first to go, a lad who sat before me on these very...” – German Professor, All Quiet on the Western Front ... Movie Quotes Database

German Professor

[about Paul]

Here is one of the first to go, a lad who sat before me on these very benches who gave up all to serve in the first year of the war. One of the iron youth who have made Germany invincible in the field. Look at him, sturdy and bronze and clear-eyed, the kind of soldier every one of you should envy.

More from All Quiet on the Western Front

Title card This story is neither an accusation nor a confession, and least of all an adventure, for death is not an adventure to those who stand face to face with it. It will try simply to tell of a generation of men who, even though they may have escaped its shells, were destroyed by the war... Himmelstoss You're not much to begin with, but I'll do my best. The first thing to do is to forget everything you ever knew, everything you ever learned - Forget! See. Forget what you've been, and what you think you're going to be. You're going to be soldiers, and that's all. I'll take the mother's milk out of you, I'll make you hard-boiled. I'll make soldiers out of you, or kill you! Franz Kemmerich They've cut my leg off. Why didn't they tell me?...I can't walk any more.