“No one had the vaguest idea what we were in for. The wisest were just the poor and simple people. They knew the war to be a misfortune. Whereas those who were better off and should have been able to see more clearly what the consequences would be were beside themselves with joy. Katzinsky said that was the result of their upbringing. It made them stupid.”
…
“There were thousands of men like him, all convinced that they were acting for the best, in a way that it cost them nothing. And that is why they let us down so badly… We had to recognize that our generation was more to be trusted than theirs. They surpassed us only in phrases and in cleverness. The first bombardment showed us our mistake. And under it the world as they had taught it to us broke in pieces. While they continued to write and talk we saw the wounded and dying. While they taught that duty to one’s country is the greatest thing we already knew that death throes are stronger….

We distinguished the false from true. We had suddenly learned to see. And we saw that there was nothing of their world left. We were all at once terribly alone, and alone we must see it through.”

All Quiet on The Western Front
Erich Maria Remarque