Yet we have much to learn from the study of military organization. The
great problem of all civilizations is the creation of citizens: that is,
of people who are dominated by the ideal of the general welfare, who
will sink private desire and work harmoniously with their fellow-
citizens for the highest good of their race. While we may all agree
that war brings about an eruption of the arcane and elemental forces
which lie normally in the pit of human life, as the forces which cause
earthquakes lie normally asleep in the womb of the world, none the less
we must admit that military genius has discovered and applied with
mastery a law of life which is of the highest importance to
civilization--far more important to civil even than to military
development--and that is the means by which the individual will forget
his personal danger and sacrifice life itself for the general welfare.
In no other organization will men in great masses so entirely forget
themselves as men will in battle under military discipline. What is the
cause of this? Can we discover how it is done and apply the law to
civil life?
The military discipline works miracles.
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