Np - Joseph Heller

[Michael Bailey]

You put so much stock in winning wars,” the grubby iniquitous old man
scoffed. “The real trick lies in losing wars, in knowing which wars can be
lost. Italy has been losing wars for centuries, and just see how splendidly
we’ve done nonetheless. France wins wars and is in a continual state of
crisis. Germany loses and prospers. Look at our own recent history. Italy
won a war in Ethiopia and promptly stumbled into serious trouble. Victory
gave us such insane delusions of grandeur that we helped start a world war
we hadn’t a chance of winning. But now that we are losing again, everything
has taken a turn for the better, and we will certainly come out on top
again if we succeed in being defeated.” Nately gaped at him