ABSTRACT
Americans are a slow people, but they seldom retrace their steps. I do not mean to imply that all Americans are slow. There are some who are only too hasty, but these are exceptions; moreover, they do not go far and are often obliged to repent of their haste. Americans are slow because they are profoundly aware that life is a continuous movement, advancing only through contradictions and becoming fuller and richer only as it succeeds in reconciling as far as possible these contradictions, never when it ignores or silences them. Americans strive heroically and with rare obstinacy to keep extreme opposites on speaking terms and to find a way to reconcile them, even if the reconciliation is merely superficial. They do not give up an extreme position until it becomes more than obvious that it cannot possibly be reconciled with its opposite and merged with the continuous movement. But once they do give it up, they look upon it as an obstacle to be removed forthwith. Americans are a slow people because of two seemingly contradictory elements in their nature: a desire for compromise at almost, though not quite, any price, and an undeniable rigidity wherever their honor and their interest are concerned. But once they have reached a decision—either to compromise or, if compromise proves 46impossible, to refuse to compromise—they are then as swift and direct in carrying out their decision as they were slow and indirect in coming to it. Observers, however, see only the action itself, the carrying out of the decision. It is this manner of taking action, together with the remarkable tempo of American production, that gives America its reputation for breathtaking speed. Innately, America has the slowest pulse in the world. If Americans seem obsessed by the need for haste, it is because they are always slow to start.
