Progress would not have been the rarity it is if the early food had not been the late poison.
Walter BagehotRead
War both needs and generates certain virtues; not the highest, but what may be called the preliminary virtues, as valor, veracity, the spirit of obedience, the habit of discipline. Any of these, and of others like them, when possessed by a nation, and no matter how generated, will give them a military advantage, and make them more likely to stay in the race of nations.
Interpretation
What this quote means
War cultivates certain virtues that, while not the highest, provide a nation with military advantages.
The quote by Walter Bagehot suggests that while war may not bring out the best qualities in humanity, it does foster essential traits like courage, truthfulness, obedience, and discipline. These 'preliminary virtues' can strengthen a nation's military position and enhance its competitiveness among other nations, regardless of the circumstances under which these virtues are developed.
Themes
WarVirtuesMilitaryNationsDisciplineValor
In practice
Example use cases
In a discussion about the impact of war on society, this quote can highlight how conflicts shape national character.
More from Walter Bagehot
All quotes →It is good to be without vices, but it is not good to be without temptations.
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Efficiency in an assembly requires a solid mass of steady votes; and these are collected by a deferential attachment to particular men, or by a belief in the principles that those men represent, and they are maintained by fear of those men - by the fear that if you vote against them, you may soon yourself have no vote at all.
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Life is a compromise of what your ego wants to do, what experience tells you to do, and what your nerves let you do.
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The most melancholy of human reflections, perhaps, is that, on the whole, it is a question whether the benevolence of mankind does most good or harm.
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Every banker knows that if he has to prove that he is worthy of credit, however good may be his arguments, in fact his credit is gone: but what we have requires no proof.
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