ACCEPTING THE UNIVERSE 



It may be a good to man, but it is a terrible evil to 

 men. We cannot afford to play Providence; we must 

 not play with Jove's thunderbolts. War cannot come 

 to any people unless somebody (or some body of 

 men) wills it, and to will an aggressive war is a 

 crime. No matter if the recent war puts a final end 

 to war, the gods will not credit us with the good that 

 flows from our act over and above our purpose and 

 will. 



All the good that comes from war comes from 

 struggle, self-denial, heroism ; and all courses of 

 action that develop these traits are substitutes for 

 war. The farm, the mining-camp, engineering, ex- 

 ploration, are substitutes. The best war material is 

 recruited from these fields. The man who can guide 

 the plowshare can wield the sword; the man who 

 can face the grizzly and the lion can face the cannon 

 and the torpedo. War develops no new virtues ; it 

 helps rejuvenate the old; obedience, team-work, 

 system, organization and so on are achievements 

 of an industrial age. In history most wrongs are 

 finally righted and the balance is fairly kept, but 

 this is not by the will and purpose of the actors, but 

 by the remedial forces of nature and life. 



The guilt falls the same upon the greed and lust 

 of power, even if the gods finally reap a harvest that 

 man's iniquities have sown. He maketh the wicked 

 to praise Him, but the wicked are to get no credit. 

 Here is where our moral standards diverge from 



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