Not
emperors or parliaments alone raise armies, but this passion also. It
will sustain nations in defeat. When everything seems lost this wild
captain will appear and the scattered forces are reunited. They will be
as oblivious of danger as if they were divinely inspired, but if they
win their battle it is to become like the conquered foe. All great wars
in history, all conquests, all national antagonisms, result in an
exchange of characteristics. It is because I wish Ireland to be itself,
to act from its own will and its own centre, that I deprecate hatred as
a force in national life. It is always possible to win a cause without
the aid of this base helper, who betrays us ever in the hour of victory.
When a man finds the feeling of hate for another rising vehemently in
himself, he should take it as a warning that conscience is battling in
his own being with that very thing he loathes. Nations hate other
nations for the evil which is in themselves; but they are as little
given to self-analysis as individuals, and while they are right to
overcome evil, they should first try to understand the genesis of the
passion in their own nature.
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