“If people only knew how hard it is to be wounded, to die, they would all be meek and gentle, would not split into parties, would not incite mobs to attack one another, and would not kill. But when they are in good health they know nothing of this. When they are wounded, no-one believes them. When they are dead, they can no longer speak.”
(from the German graveyard in La Cambe, Normandy)
Passive Impressions 
Lalic’s quotation is, unfortunately, a load of bunk. The brave soldiers of all sides in the two world wars knew full well what it was like to be wounded and die. That didn’t stop them (apart from a few deserters) from continuing the fighting. They were soldiers and they obeyed their orders as was required of them.
I think these lines from A.E.Houseman are a better tribute to the wasted young lives in these cemeteries:
Here dead lie we because we did not choose
To live and shame the land from which we sprung.
Life, to be sure, is nothing much to lose;
But young men think it is, and we were young.
I read this as an observation that when societies forget how nasty war is, they are doomed to repeat the errors of long distant generations. It’s an apt metaphor for the roots of WW1, and possibly more recent rushes into war by world leaders who should have known better. I get the feeling that Lalic knew full well the horror involved.
I love your quote.