On the record
Every intellectual gain, so to speak, that a nation possessed was in the earliest times made use of--was INVESTED and taken out--in war; all else perished.
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Walter Bagehot
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gutenberg.orgWalter Bagehot: “Every intellectual gain, so to speak, that a nation possessed was in the earliest times made use of--was INVESTED and…”
Editor's note · Context
Bagehot argues that early civilizations invested their intellectual gains in warfare.
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More from Walter Bagehot
Just so the lines of our Constitution were framed in old eras of sparse population, few wants, and simple habits; and we adhere in seeming to their shape, though civilisation has come with its dangers, complications, and enjoyments.
Political philosophy is still more imperfect; it has been framed from observations taken upon regular specimens of politics and States; as to these its teaching is most valuable.
I own that I do not entirely sympathise with the horror of these anomalies which haunts some of our best critics.
The casual line was traced according to the strength of deceased combatants; succeeding generations fought elsewhere; and the hesitating line of a half-drawn battle was left to stand for a perpetual limit.
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