Our last great war ended in 1865; and since then only the light and transient touch of the Spanish War has been laid upon us.

Even that war ended seventeen years ago and since then only the distant rumblings of battles in foreign lands have been borne across the ocean to our ears.
These rumblings have disturbed us very little.

Feeling secure behind the 3,000-mile barrier of the ocean, we have lent an almost incredulous ear to the story that they tell and the menace that they bear; though the story of the influence of successful and unsuccessful wars upon the rise and fall of nations is told so harshly and so loudly that, in order not to hear it, one must tightly stop his ears.
That war has not been the only factor, however, in the longevity of nations is obviously true; and it is also true that nations which have developed the warlike arts alone have never even approximated greatness.

In all complex matters, in all processes of nature and human nature, many elements are present, and many factors combine to produce a given result.

Man is a very complex individual, and the more highly he is developed the more complex he becomes.