Catch-22

by Joseph Heller

He had decided to live forever or die in the attempt,

It doesn’t make a damned bit of difference who wins the war to someone who’s dead.”

“You put so much stock in winning wars,” the grubby iniquitous old man scoffed. “The real trick lies in losing wars, in knowing which wars can be lost. Italy has been losing wars for centuries, and just see how splendidly we’ve done nonetheless.

“You see? Imagine a man his age risking what little life he has left for something so absurd as a country.”