World War I is much more typical of the wars of history than World War II — the kind of war you look back afterward and say, “What the hell were we fighting for? Why did all these millions of people have to die? Was it really worth it to get rid of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, that we wiped out an entire generation, and tore up half the continent? Was the War of 1812 worth fighting? The Spanish-American War? What the hell were these people fighting for?”

George R. R. Martin (b. 1948) American author and screenwriter [George Raymond Richard Martin]

Interview (2014-04-23) by Mikal Gilmore, “The Rolling Stone Interview,” Rolling Stone
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