"Just like the skies they grew up under," as the poet says.
“Just on the model of their native skies,”
as the poet has it.
What about gentler personalities? Don't they have milder flaws — like being too soft-hearted, too loving, or too shy? Yes, and that's why I can often tell you have a good character by looking at your very faults. But just because these flaws show a noble nature doesn't mean they aren't still flaws. Look at wild nations that are free because they're savage — like lions or wolves. They can't command others any more than they can obey. Their mental strength isn't civilized. It's fierce and uncontrollable. Nobody can rule unless they can also be ruled. That's why world empires have almost always stayed in the hands of nations with milder climates. People who live near the frozen north have uncivilized temperaments—
“What? are not milder spirits linked with gentler vices, such as tenderness of heart, love, and bashfulness?” Yes, and therefore I can often point out to you a good disposition by its own faults: yet their being the proofs of a superior nature does not prevent their being vices. Moreover, all those nations which are free because they are wild, like lions or wolves, cannot command any more than they can obey: for the strength of their intellect is not civilized, but fierce and unmanageable: now, no one is able to rule unless he is also able to be ruled. Consequently, the empire of the world has almost always remained in the hands of those nations who enjoy a milder climate. Those who dwell near the frozen north have uncivilized tempers—