Observe that anyone who dies for his country is a fortunate man, but death takes what it wants, indiscriminately, in peace-time as well as in war. It is better to die with freedom than without it.
Source: Address to the Ethiopian parliament, 18 Jul 1935.
-- Haile Selassie, (Jul 23 1892-1975), Ethiopian political leader; He was Emperor, 1930-74; sought to modernize Ethiopia and steer it into the mainstream of post-WW II African politics - League of Nations and UN.