We crouch behind every corner, behind every barrier of barbed wire, and hurl heaps of explosives at the feet of the advancing enemy before we run. The blast of the hand-grenades impinges powerfully on our arms and legs; crouching like cats we run on, overwhelmed by this wave that bears us along, that fills us with ferocity, turns us into thugs, into murderers, into God only knows what devils; this wave that multiplies our strength with fear and madness and greed of life seeking and fighting for nothing but our deliverance. If your own father came over with them you would not hesitate to fling a bomb at him.
excerpt from All Quiet on the Western Front by Erich Maria Remarque