"To kill one man is to be guilty of a capital crime, to kill ten men is to increase the guilt ten-fold, to kill a hundred men is to increase it a hundred fold. This the rulers of the earth all recognize and yet when it comes to the greatest crime - waging war on another state - they praise it.

     It is clear that they do not know that it is wrong, for they record such deeds to be handed down to posterity; if they knew they were wrong, why should they wish to record them and have them handed down to posterity?

     If a man on seeing a little black were to say it is black, but on seeing a lot of black were to say it is white, it would be clear that such a man could not distinguish black and white. Or if he were to taste a few bitter things were to pronounce them sweet, clearly he would be incapable of distinguishing between sweetness and bitterness. So those who recognize a small crime as such, but do not recognize the wickedness of the greatest crime of all - the waging of war on another state - but actually praise it - cannot distinguish right and wrong. So as to right or wrong, the rulers of the world are in confusion."

Mozi, China, circa 470 - 391 B.C.

This quote comes from the book Non - Violence: The History of a Dangerous Idea by Mark Kurlansky.