Sam Small

“He fell in October 1918, on a day that was so still and quiet along the entire front line that the army dispatches restricted themselves to a single sentence: that there was nothing new to report on the western front.”
― Erich Maria Remarque, All Quiet on the Western Front

“Always it was the same, Furlong thought; always they carried mechanically on without pause, to the next job at hand. What would life be like, he wondered, if they were given time to think and reflect over things? Might their lives be different or much the same - or would they just lose the run of themselves?”
― Claire Keegan, Small Things Like These

“If I had to be like Caesar and Die, I would have been aware of it, an inner voice would have told me, but there hasn't been anything like that on the inside. I've always thought - and my friends have, too - that we're not the same as Caesar. And now look what's happened!' he said to himself. 'It can't be . It can't be, but it is. How can it be? What's it all about.”
― Leo Tolstoy, The Death of Ivan Ilych

“On high, the succulent leaves whispered in peace and joy, and the boughs of the living tress slowly stirred themselves, looking down in majesty on the dead tree that lay flat out on the ground.”
― Leo Tolstoy, Three Deaths