History did not demand Yossarain’s premature demise, justice could be satisfied without it, progress did not hinge upon it, victory did not depend on it. That men would die was a necessity; which men would die, though, was a matter of circumstance, and Yossarian was willing to be the victim of anything but circumstance. But that was war. Just about all he could find in its favour was that it paid well and liberated children from the pernicious influence of their parents.

– Catch-22 (Joseph Heller)