George Bernard Shaw on War

"Until a war has produced its final results, no one can tell whether it has been worth while or not ... War is always wasteful, cruel, mischievous, destructive, demoralizing and detestable to every humane instinct; yet it is not always unavoidable; and often it effects social changes that occur only under its terrible pressure. The war of 1914-18 made an end of four empires which might have endured for four centuries more at peace. Whether it was worth the bloodshed and devastation it cost depends on whether the new republics make their citizens better than the old empires did. But if they do, it still remains true that it would have been wiser to make the changes reasonably than violently."

-- George Bernard Shaw, in an interview with Octavio Novaro for the January 1, 1944 issue of "Pic" magazine (Vol. XV, No. 1)