Erich Maria Remarque. On the Western front without changes (№ 11024)

For anyone in the light of the earth doesn't mean so much as to the soldier. In those moments when he nestles up to her, long and clasping her in his arms, when under fire, fear of death makes him deeply buried in her face and all her body, she's his only friend, his brother, his mother. Her silent reliable intercessor, moaning and screaming, he confides his fear and his pain, and she takes them again and releases him for ten seconds, ten seconds, dashes, another ten seconds of life - and again pick him up, to conceal, sometimes forever.