Political Quotes

Walter Bagehot: But the first elements of civilisation are great military advantages, and, roughly, it is a rule of the first times that…

On the record
But the first elements of civilisation are great military advantages, and, roughly, it is a rule of the first times that you can infer merit from conquest, and that progress is promoted by the competitive examination of constant war.
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Walter Bagehot

Editor's note · Context

Bagehot discusses the relationship between military power and the development of civilization.

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