“That a man can take pleasure in marching in formation to the strains of a band is enough to make me despise him. He has only been given his big brain by mistake; a backbone was all he needed. This plague-spot of civilisation ought to be abolished with all possible speed. Heroism to order, senseless violence, and all the pestilent nonsense that goes by the name of patriotism – how I hate them! War seems to me a mean, contemptible thing: I would rather be hacked to pieces than take part in such an abominable business.”

Albert Einstein.