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About this quote

What does it mean?
The strongest nations tend to dominate, and their traits are often seen as superior.
In plain terms
Powerful nations win and their qualities are often called the best.
What can you take from it?
Strength often defines what is considered good in international relations.

Where it applies

  • analyzing global conflicts
  • understanding cultural bias

Putting it to work

  • question value judgments
  • study power dynamics

Questions to consider

  • Does power justify dominance?
  • Who defines what is best?

Another view

Strength does not always equal moral superiority.

More from Walter Bagehot

  1. History is strewn with the wrecks of nations which have gained a little progressiveness at the cost of a great deal of hard manliness, and have thus prepared t…

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  2. It is often said that men are ruled by their imaginations; but it would be truer to say they are governed by the weakness of their imaginations.

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  3. Dullness in matters of government is a good sign, and not a bad one - in particular, dullness in parliamentary government is a test of its excellence, an indic…

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