Ambition is a potent force in human affairs. The desire for
the approval of others, which is prehuman, makes for all the virtues.
(2) But in addition to these inward springs of morality there is the
constant pressure of a hostile environment. Cold, storms, rivers that
block journeys, forests that must be felled, treacherous seas that
lure with promise and exact toll for carelessness, arouse men out of
their torpor and aid the development of the virtues we have been
considering. The necessity of rearing some sort of shelter makes against
laziness for industry and perseverance. The dangers of wind or flood
check heedlessness in the choice of location for the home and foster
prudence and foresight. In the harsher climates man is more goaded
by nature; hence more moral progress has, probably, been effected in
the temperate than in the tropical zones.
(3) A third and very important source lies in the mutual hostility
of the animal species and of men. Slothfulness and recklessness mean
for the great majority of animals the imminent risk of becoming the
prey of some stronger animal. Among tribes of men the ceaseless struggles
for supremacy have pricked cowardice into courage, demanded self-control
instead of temper, supplanted gluttony and drunkenness by temperance.
Cruel as has been the suffering caused by war, and deplorable as most
of its effects, it did a great deal in the early stages of man's
history to promote the personal virtues, alertness, moderation,
caution, courage, and efficiency.
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