How we cite our quotes: All quotations are from All Quiet on the Western Front.
Quote #1
KANTOREK: Some of you may have ambitions. I know of one young man who has great promise as a writer. He has written the first act of a tragedy which would be a credit to one of the masters. And he is dreaming, I suppose, of following in the footsteps of Goethe and Schiller, and I hope he will. But now our country calls. The fatherland needs leaders. Personal ambition must be thrown aside in the one great sacrifice for our country.
The message here is pretty clear: individuality is well and good, but when your country calls, your personal needs must be cast aside. When Paul decides to enlist, he puts a pin in his future plans. The tragedy of Paul's life will "follow in the footsteps of Goethe and Schiller," though we're guessing he would rather have written it than lived it.
Quote #2
PETER: I'm gonna get in the cavalry and ride.
MUELLER: No cavalry for me. Infantry's where you see the fighting.
PETER: Where are all the guns? That's what I want to know.
Immediately after joining the army, the young men develop new hopes and dreams, all centered on the glory and heroism they perceive will be theirs in the service. The tragedy is these dreams might come true.
Quote #3
HIMMELSTOSS: You're going to be soldiers, and that's all! I'll take the mother's milk out of you. I'll make you hard-boiled. I'll make soldiers out of you or kill you! Now, salute!
Here, we see a variety of young men, each with different skills, ambitions, and desires. Paul wants to be a writer; Kemmerick, we later learn, wants to be a forest ranger. But war has no use for individual skills or wants. It needs soldiers trained to kill other soldiers. So you can be all you want to be, assuming that's what you want to be.