Erich Maria Remarque was born on June 22, 1898. He would later be in the unique position to write his famous war novel, All Quiet on the Western Front, after his experience at 18 years of age, as a soldier on the front lines in World War I. With terse prose, he writes about the horrors of war, centering around Paul Bäumer, a young soldier.

In this anti-war novel, Remarque writes: "To me the front is a mysterious whirlpool. Though I am in still water far away from its centre, I feel the whirl of the vortex sucking me slowly, irresistibly, inescapably into itself." Read more quotes from Erich Maria Remarque, and All Quiet on the Western Front.