Looking for specific short story/novel/author...

[heng]

Hi,

thought I might ask all of you, maybe you can help.

There was a story I read ages ago (when I was still young and pretty)...

It was about a man travelling through parallel dimensions/alternate realities. In one of those he met someone and talked about the traveller's history. They talked about WorldWar I and WorldWar II... the reply he got was:

"You have wars that span the whole world? And you gave them numbers?!?!"(*)

That still chills me a little bit. I have unfortunately no memory of who wrote this, what kind of book or magazin this was in, nor what the characters were named, etc... It had to be written earlier than 1990, probably in the '70s/'80s?

My google-fu left me, any help?

--

(*) in all likelihood not verbatim

Edited July 9, 2015 by heng
typo

[LordFerret]

I recall the line, but I cannot place it.