To every action there is always opposed an equal reaction.
There is hardly such a thing as a war in which it makes no difference who wins. Nearly always one side stands more or less for progress, the other side more or less for reaction.
A reaction: a boat which is going against the current but which does not prevent the river from flowing on.[Une réaction: barque qui remonte le courant, mais qui n’empêche pas le fleuve de descendre.]