Page:Russian Realities and Problems - ed. James Duff (1917).djvu/167



Friendly intercourse, either between nations or individuals, cannot be achieved without mutual knowledge and appreciation of their respective moral forces: for moral forces prove to be powerful springs of action not only in times of peace, but also in times of war, when they reach, in certain cases, their utmost tension and incite men to great deeds.

Although moral forces are not all concentrated in thought, this principle has the greatest combining power of them all and exercises it both in peaceful and warlike activities: thought implies unity of cognition, constantly referred to an object other than the mental state itself, and brings men forward to some definite end, leading through the intricacies of life to a higher destiny.

These considerations prompt me to draw your attention at this Meeting, the main subject of which is the study of Russian civilization, to Russian thought, past and present.

The term "thought," as stated above, particularly in its methodic sense, is distinguished from "will" and