How’s that for a Catch-22? If you have a loaded gun, you cannot be in fear for your life because if someone starts beating the stuffing out of you you can shoot them. Therefore, you cannot shoot someone for beating the stuffing out of you because, having a loaded weapon, you cannot be in fear for your life....
So, if I have a gun, I cannot be in fear for my life and can therefore never use it. The only time I can be in fear for my life and defend myself with a gun is when I don’t have one.
...
Yossarian was moved very deeply by the absolute simplicity of this clause of Catch-22 and let out a respectful whistle.
“That’s some catch, that Catch-22,” he observed.
“It’s the best there is,” Doc Daneeka agreed.