Sentence:  Red man or white man , pacifist or killer , the forest would accept them all - <WSD>knowing</WSD> that it could thrive equally well on slaughter and beneficence ; knowing that its ageless mass would always dwarf the short span of time allotted to any man . 
Meaning of the word marked with <WSD> tags:  be cognizant or aware of a fact or a specific piece of information; possess knowledge or information about