As Memorial Day in the United States of America rapidly approaches, this thought comes to mind:

“War is an ugly thing, but not the ugliest of things; the decayed and degraded state of moral and patriotic feeling which thinks nothing worth a war, is worse. A man who has nothing which he cares more about than he does about his personal safety is a miserable creature who has no chance at being free, unless made and kept so by the exertions of better men than himself. – John S. Mill

The above quote is found in John S. Mill’s essay “The Contest In America”.  It may read in its entirety at:

https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/The_Contest_in_America