One thing leads to another in thought

Today as I was on facebook, I was checking out one of my political pages I follow. As I did so, I noticed a quote someone posted as a comment that caught my interest. I wrote down the quote and then looked up who originally said it.

Here is the quote:

"War is an ugly thing but not the ugliest of things; the decayed and degrading state of moral and patriotic feelings which thinks that nothing is worth war is much worse. A man who has nothing for which he is willing to fight, nothing for which is more important than his own personal safety, is a miserable creature and has no chance of being free unless mad and kept so by the exertions of better men than himself." John Stuart Mill

I discovered John Stuart Mills was an English political philosopher and economist who was also a partner in developing the utilitarian doctrine....which basically is that 'all action should be to bring about the greatest happiness of the greatest number of people.' Hmmmmm?!!?!
Let's not go there...I could be here all day with my views on that!
Generally, I agree with the quote but from a different place than what I think he meant it. I find those words coming from a person with some of his other views interesting and thought provoking. I am not going to go into all my thought processes on the subject. But instead express that I found myself on a journey within my own mind analyzing various belief systems and the state of the world. It is interesting to come to the conclusion that words can be spoken that most everyone can identify with, but the meaning for each person can be as different as night and day.....There is the man who volunteers for combat who fights for what he believes to be right; then there are others who fight in protest of war by riots, burning flags, and causing chaos for what they deem to be right in the name of peace. Each could say they agree with the quote. The quote talks about the 'better man'...who determines?...who says what happiness should be for the majority? I have my own conclusions I am firm about....but I continue to ponder the differences in how people view this world and what they believe will make them 'free'.