Allpoliticianssharethesameopinion，whichiswhyweprogresssoslowly。Eachpartyispersuadedthatbymeansofreformsallevilscouldberemedied。ThisconvictionresultsinstrugglessuchashavemadeFrancethemostdividedcountryintheworldandthemostsubjecttoanarchy。
Nooneyetseemstounderstandthatindividualsandtheirmethods，notregulations，makethevalueofapeople。Theefficaciousreformsarenottherevolutionaryreformsbutthetriflingameliorationsofeverydayaccumulatedincourseoftime。Thegreatsocialchanges，likethegreatgeologicalchanges，areeffectedbythedailyadditionofminutecauses。
TheeconomichistoryofGermanyduringthelastfortyyearsprovesinastrikingmannerthetruthofthislaw。
Manyimportanteventswhichseemtodependmoreorlessonhazard——asbattles，forexample——arethemselvessubjecttothislawoftheaccumulationofsmallcauses。Nodoubtthedecisivestruggleissometimesterminatedinadayorless，butmanyminuteefforts，slowlyaccumulated，areessentialtovictory。Wehadapainfulexperienceofthisin1870，andtheRussianshavelearneditmorerecently。BarelyhalfanhourdidAdmiralTogoneedtoannihilatetheRussianfleet，atthebattleofTsushima，whichfinallydecidedthefateofJapan，butthousandsoflittlefactors，smallandremote，determinedthatsuccess。CausesnotlessnumerousengenderedthedefeatoftheRussians——abureaucracyascomplicatedasours，andasirresponsible；
lamentablematerial，althoughpaidforbyitsweightingold；asystemofgraftateverydegreeofthesocialhierarchy，andgeneralindifferencetotheinterestsofthecountry。