Contrast with this quote from Theodore Roosevelt in 1898 during the final years of the Qing dynasty when America was economically and politically ascendant:

There comes a time in the life of a nation, as in the life of an individual, when it must face great responsibilities, whether it will or no. We have now reached that time. We cannot avoid facing the fact that we occupy a new place among the people of the world, and have entered upon a new career. All that we can decide is whether we shall bear ourselves well or ill in following out his career. We can see by the fate of China how idle is the hope of courting safety by leading a life of fossilized isolation. If we stand aside from that keen rivalry with the other nations of the world to which we are bidden alike by our vast material resources and the restless, masterful spirit of our people, we would perhaps for a few decades be allowed to busy ourselves unharmed with interests which to the world at large seem parochial, but sooner or later, as the fate of China teaches us, the safety which springs from the contemptuous forbearance of others would prove a broken reed. We are yet ages from the millenium and because we believe with all our hearts in the mighty mission of the American Republic, so we must spare no effort and shrink from no toil to make it great.

Greatness means strife for nation and man alike. A soft, easy life is not worth living, if it impairs the fibre of brain and heart and muscle. We must dare to be great; and we must realize that greatness is the fruit of toil and sacrifice and high courage.