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peaceful thought temperate of him energies conquered best and nature initiative them polar more down
The influence of the climate upon the character of a nation has sometimes been exaggerated, but it is undoubtedly of importance. The two extremes heat and cold seem to have a similar effect on people, for both those in tropical and arctic climates alike lack energy and . In the tropics, the extreme and often moist heat saps the vitality, discourages exertion, and makes the inhabitants lethargic and ease-loving. And in such countries, so bountifully supplies man's wants that little exertion on his part is necessary. In the arctic regions, the excessive cold seems to numb men's and render them torpid. Their nature is so niggardly, and man's struggle for existence so severe that it consumes all his energies and leaves exhausted for any other kind of effort. Significantly, no great enterprising, conquering or highly civilised nation has arisen either in the torrid or the regions.
The dominant races are those who dwell in the temperate zones, where the climate is neither too hot nor too cold, is healthy bracing, and where the struggle for existence is not so severe as to consume all a man's energies, yet severe enough to demand constant and exertion. Most of the European nations, the Americans, and the Japanese, the most civilised, vigorous, and enterprising people in the world, are dwellers in the zone.
The geographical position of a country also influences the character of the inhabitants. The dwellers on the fertile plains soon settle to agriculture and trade and to an ordered and peaceful life. They grow wealthy, civilised, and luxurious. They eventually become effeminate and are easily by hardier races. But the inhabitants of mountains and arid deserts, who have a harder struggle for existence, rarely settle down to a regular and life. On the contrary, they are very vigorous and independent, great fighters, and love the liberty that it is very difficult to subdue .
The sea also greatly influences the people who live near it. Like the ancient Phoenicians and the modern British, the seafaring people are much adventurous and enterprising than the dwellers in inland countries. The boundlessness and the liberty of the sea get into their blood, and they make the explorers, pioneers, and colonists.