The Emperor had heard the conversation, and he promptly
said: "You know in Germany we do not rate and classify people by their
material possessions, but by the importance of the service they render
to country, culture, and civilization." One of his sons once told me
that from his earliest childhood his father had instilled into his mind
the lesson that devotion to duty and readiness for sacrifice were the
cardinal virtues of a German, especially of a Hohenzollern. His days are
periods of constant labor and severe discipline. He rises early, lives
abstemiously and works until far into the night. There is no day laborer
in his entire empire who gives so many hours per diem to his work. His
nature is manifestly deeply religious and, in every sentence he speaks,
evidence of his consciousness that the policeman's club cannot take the
place of religious and moral principle is revealed. His frequent appeal
for Divine aid in the discharge of his duties is prompted by the
conviction that the heavier the duty the more need there is of that aid.
His Passion for German Greatness.
He undoubtedly has an intense desire, almost a passion, for the
prosperity and greatness of his country, but his conception of that
prosperity and greatness is more spiritual and cultural than material
and commercial.
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