“… but that's what mankind is like: they only prize what they no longer possess.”
Source: The Black Obelisk
Quotes from book
The Black Obelisk
Erich Maria Remarque
Original title
Der schwarze Obelisk
(German, 1956)
For the artifact see Black Obelisk, and see List of artifacts significant to the BibleThe Black Obelisk is a novel written in 1956 by the German author Erich Maria Remarque. This novel paints a portrait of Germany in the early 1920s, a period marked by hyperinflation and rising nationalism.
“I want to think and at the same time that's the last thing in the world I want to do.”
Source: The Black Obelisk
“Good or ill, life is life; you only realize that when you have to risk it.”
Source: The Black Obelisk
“The death of one man is a just death, the death of two millions is a statistic.”
Aber das ist wohl so, weil ein einzelner immer der Tod ist — und zwei Millionen immer nur eine Statistik.
Der schwarze Obelisk (1956)
A variant of this quote "One death is a tragedy. A million deaths is just a statistic." has also been attributed to Joseph Stalin, but no source for this has been found. This version appeared in the English press not later than 1958. (Ремарк, Эрих Мария // Словарь современных цитат / составитель К. В. Душенко — Москва: изд-во «Эксмо», 2006)
