"War is an ugly thing, but not the ugliest of things. The decayed and degraded state of moral and patriotic feeling which thinks that nothing is worth war is much worse. The person who has nothing for which he is willing to fight, nothing which is more important than his own personal safety, is a miserable creature and has no chance of being free unless made and kept so by the exertions of better men than himself."

John Stuart-Mill

Thanks, AussieNick. That is one quote that cannot be added to for a better description of what war is and why it is.

Excellent! Mill wrote that in an essay about the American Civil War, which he considered a rare example of a just war. Naturally he was for the North.

Originally Posted by AussieNick

"War is an ugly thing, but not the ugliest of things. The decayed and degraded state of moral and patriotic feeling which thinks that nothing is worth war is much worse. The person who has nothing for which he is willing to fight, nothing which is more important than his own personal safety, is a miserable creature and has no chance of being free unless made and kept so by the exertions of better men than himself."

John Stuart-Mill

JS-M may have been writing about the Civil War ... but ... his quotation is just as apt today as it was then.

As our troops are fighting and dying in far off lands, we see religious bigots and zealots that profane the funeral of our fallen warriors and heroes. To top that off, there is even another group of Americans that celebrate every time a military man (or) woman is killed. To say that they are NOT worth dying for would be to say that our warriors died for nothing ... and that will NEVER happen as long as there is just one single veteran living who answered his nation's call and went to war.

To say that these anti-Americans are beneath contempt is putting it mildly ... however ... our constitution guarantees them the right to air their opinions even though I want to put my fist on the end of their noses. If I were to do that, I would break faith with the constitution I swore to defend and would lend credibility to their opinions ... AND ...
WOULD LEND CREDENCE TO THEIR CLAIMS THAT OUR FALLEN HAVE DIED IN VAIN.

WON'T EVER HAPPEN!

This quote makes what we do worthwhile.
Whenever somebody has a go at me for being in the military, I just think of John Stuart-Mills' words and it makes me feel a whole lot better.

That's a great quote. Thanks

No worries mate.

I like that one, Nick. Thanks for sharing.

Originally Posted by Chief Bones

there is even another group of Americans that celebrate every time a military man (or) woman is killed.

Who are they? Inactive terror cells? I don't know any Americans who would celebrate the deaths of our soldiers, regardless of their political leanings.

Originally Posted by AussieNick

"War is an ugly thing, but not the ugliest of things. The decayed and degraded state of moral and patriotic feeling which thinks that nothing is worth war is much worse. The person who has nothing for which he is willing to fight, nothing which is more important than his own personal safety, is a miserable creature and has no chance of being free unless made and kept so by the exertions of better men than himself."

John Stuart-Mill

That's a nice one.