How did these germinal forms of courage, prudence, industriousness,
etc, first come into existence? The answer to this question will also
show what are the main underlying causes that promote these virtues
today.

(1) They are in part due to certain organic needs and cravings which
exist independently of the individual's environment. Hunger and thirst
imperiously check the tendency to laziness, or heedlessness, and
stimulate to industriousness and prudence. To this day the mere need
of food and clothing and shelter is the main bulwark of these virtues.
The acquisitive impulse, which is also rather early in appearance,
has an increasing share in this sort of moralization. The craving for
action, which is the natural result of abundant nervous and muscular
energy, the combative instinct, the joy of conquest and achievement,
and the sexual impulse, go far in counteracting cowardice and inertia.
The artistic impulse, when it emerges in man, long before the dawn
of history, makes against caprice for orderliness, self-control, and
patience. Ambition is a potent force in human affairs. The desire for
the approval of others, which is prehuman, makes for all the virtues.

(2) But in addition to these inward springs of morality there is the
constant pressure of a hostile environment. Cold, storms, rivers that
block journeys, forests that must be felled, treacherous seas that
lure with promise and exact toll for carelessness, arouse men out of
their torpor and aid the development of the virtues we have been
considering. The necessity of rearing some sort of shelter makes against
laziness for industry and perseverance. The dangers of wind or flood
check heedlessness in the choice of location for the home and foster
prudence and foresight. In the harsher climates man is more goaded
by nature; hence more moral progress has, probably, been effected in