It is not good for a nation, any more than for an individual, to be too successful.

Moreover, the doctrine of liberty, whether in the individualist or nationalist sense, if carried to extreme, is liable to abuse.

All to-day are aware that sheer individualism in the economic sphere is an almost unmitigated evil; sheer individualism in the political sphere and sheer nationalism are equally evil.

France at the beginning of last century was suffering from too much success, too much political liberty, too much nationalism.

Having overthrown the old _regime_ within the State quickly and easily, she began to think she could do without the State altogether: the result was anarchy, for which the only remedy is despotism.
Having, again, suddenly become conscious of her power and mission as a nation, she began to send her armies across her frontiers to carry the gospel of her peculiar "culture" to other and more benighted nations: the result was occupation, which degenerated into conquest.