The Moral Vision
Per Ardua ad Astra
~ 47 ~
course long after Britain, Europe and America. This
is all the more remarkable, considering that Japan
has none of the natural resources that the older
established industrial nations have, buried right
there in their own soil just waiting to be extracted.
In man’s life the most important thing is the will to
act. Had the Japanese succumbed to a sense of loss
and frustration, and frittered their energies away in
futile political protest, their country would have
been doomed to decline and ruination. But, as it
was, they conquered any sense of victimization they
might have had and set about reconstructing their
national life with a will and a way. Although
earthquakes had brought them death and
destruction, they had also galvanized them into
building their lives afresh.
In such situations of grim affliction, provided one
has the will, all one’s hidden potential and latent
faculties are brought into play. One can think better,
plan more successfully and make the greater efforts
needed to bring one’s plans to fruition. One who
lacks the will to improve his life is just like an idling
motor which is going nowhere.
