Here are recommended essays regarding Thomas Jefferson (April 13, 1743 – July 4, 1826) on The Imaginative Conservative: Looking for Mr. Jefferson by Clyde Wilson Thomas Jefferson’s Birthday by Clyde Wilson The Jeffersonian Conservative Tradition by Clyde Wilson Thomas Jefferson, Conservative by Clyde Wilson From Union to Empire by W. Winston Elliott III Was Thomas Jefferson a Philosopher? by Eva Brann [...]
As enticing as Odysseus’ adventures are, questions remain: what of Penelope, Telemachus, Laertes, and indeed Ithaca left behind? What about their twenty years without a King, a father, a husband, and a son? Odysseus’ brief encounter with his faithful dog Argos demonstrates the price paid by those left behind. When Odysseus, the man of wily [...]
Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things. ~Philippians 4:8 I pray that The Imaginative Conservative lifts your spirits and brings to your life things excellent and praiseworthy, as we pursue the True, the Good, [...]
Ora et labora.… “Pray and work.” This is the motto of the Rule of St. Benedict, written in 516 by the famous founder of Western monasticism. “Benedict of Nursia found the world, physical and social, in ruins,” observed St. John Henry Newman, “and his mission was to restore it… quietly, patiently, gradually.” We at The Imaginative Conservative also seek [...]
If Plato’s extended metaphor of the mind as depicted by the city is true, every human mind has the capacity to train its Guardians, curb the appetitive part of the soul, and live on the grassy plains in the sun above the cave. It’s a question of true learning. When Eva Brann describes a liberal [...]
For nearly three hundred years, "The Shepherd of Hermas" gave instruction to the members and catechumens of the early Church. It taught them the Christian virtues and called for repentance. After being left out of the cannon of the New Testament, however, "Hermas" faded in popularity and use. So when “the Lord of the flocks [...]
John 16:20-23 20 ‘In all truth I tell you, you will be weeping and wailing while the world will rejoice; you will be sorrowful, but your sorrow will turn to joy. 21 A woman in childbirth suffers, because her time has come; but when she has given birth to the child she forgets the suffering [...]
Dear Friend of The Imaginative Conservative: "At the end of Paradise," writes Senior Contributor Michael De Sapio, "Dante the pilgrim is enthralled by his ever-deeper penetration into the mystery of God. I think that is an excellent image of our search for truth in this earthly life: ours is not a march to the grave, but a journey [...]
Saint John Fisher, Bishop & Martyr If more Catholic Bishops were like Fisher more Catholic politicians would be like St. Thomas More June 22nd John Fisher, Bishop of Rochester Born at Beverly, 1469 - martyred June 22, 1535, Tower of London Canonized (with Saint Thomas More) 1935 Saint John Fisher studied theology in Cambridge, England [...]
Ora et labora.... "Pray and work." This is the motto of the Rule of St. Benedict, written in 516 by the famous founder of Western monasticism, Benedict of Nursia. For fifteen centuries Benedictine monks have lived their lives according to this motto, performing manual labor and praying to God. Many laypeople have similarly taken this [...]
After fourteen years of faithful effort, I pray that The Imaginative Conservative continues to offer a conservatism of thought and imagination in the hope of preserving the best of the Western tradition and restoring the virtue of our Republic. […]
Today I honor the men and women of the United States military who have sacrificed their lives while doing their duty to the Republic. For them, and their families, I ask God to bless them and keep them. On this Memorial Day do we remember what should not have been? Only the West’s soul is more [...]
“If I were rich I would have many books, and I would pamper myself with bindings bright to the eye and soft to the touch, in paper generously opaque, and type such as men designed when printing was very young. I would dress my gods in leather and gold, and burn candles of worship before [...]
At The Imaginative Conservative, we seek to preserve the American Republic and the Western Tradition, while working and praying for a better future, through the publication of essays that reflect the best of conservative thought, past and present. We could not have such success over the last fourteen years without the support of loyal readers [...]