If civilisation has nothing to do with morals and religion, if social justice and political liberty are matters of indifference to it, it can have but little contact with human life in its most universal aspects. It is an artificial growth, a hot-house plant which can only flourish in a world in which everyone is [...]
Edmund Burke Taking it for granted that I do not write to the disciples of the Parisian philosophy, I may assume that the awful Author of our being is the Author of our place in the order of existence,—and that, having disposed and marshalled us by a divine tactic, not according to [...]
Lynn Harold Hough “The intelligent conservative does not mistake formlessness for emancipation, as the Existentialist does; nor does he confound system with achievement, as the Marxist does. The conservative knows that in religion, truly understood, the creative spirit finds a support of immense value. At the very moment when religion sets about its [...]
”I hope, then, that our resurgent American conservatism will not be truly new, looking toward a wave of the future, but rather a genuine revival of intelligent interest in the old liberties and duties of American society. I hope, moreover, that it will be not merely a shop-and-till conservatism, a conservatism of timidity, but instead [...]
The conservative is concerned, first of all, for the regeneration of spirit and character—with the perennial problem of the inner order of the soul, the restoration of the ethical understanding, and the religious sanction upon which any life worth living is founded. This is conservatism at its highest. —Russell Kirk (The Conservative Mind) […]
by Michelle Obama “President Barack Obama loves to serenade his wife by singing songs from Al Green, Marvin Gaye and other R&B greats…Michelle Obama told ‘The Tonight Show’ host Jay Leno…he also sings…even ‘a little Stevie.’ That’s Stevie Wonder, for the uninitiated.” “’He likes the classics,’ she explained.” –From The Daily Mail (UK) […]
Spending time at the state capitol recently reminded me just how easily men are misled into embracing ideologies of every sort, and how much damage is done to our civilization as a result. The experience prompted me to open my Whittaker Chambers book from college — Witness — and thumb through to one of my favorite parts: His [...]
TO THE EDITOR OF THE TIMES Sir.— The traditional use of the word [aristocracy] implies, I believe, an emphasis upon inheritance: not merely the inheritance of property, however important that may seem to some, but the inheritance, partly through biological transmission and partly through environment, of, other less tangible values. In other words, the unit [...]
“By and large the literature of a democracy will never exhibit the order, regularity, skill, and art characteristic of aristocratic literature; formal qualities will be neglected or actually despised. The style will often be strange, incorrect, overburdened, and loose, and almost always strong and bold. Writers will be more anxious to work quickly than to [...]
Other studies may tell us how man might behave, or how he should behave; history tells us how he has behaved for six thousand years. One who knows that record is in large measure protected in advance against the delusions and disillusionments of his time. He has learned the limitations of human nature, and bears [...]
Wallace Stevens Revolution Is the affair of logical lunatics. The politics of emotion must appear To be an intellectual structure. The cause Creates a logic not to be distinguished From lunacy… – “Esthetique du Mal” For more poems by Wallace Stevens visit The Imaginative Conservative Bookstore. We hope you will join us in The Imaginative Conservative community. The [...]
[Christmas] night bestowed peace on the whole world; so, let no one threaten; this is the night of the Most Gentle One, let no one be cruel; this is the night of the most Humble One, let no one be proud…. Today the Bountiful impoverished Himself for our sake; so, the rich one, invite the [...]
I take literally the statement in the Gospel of John that God loves the world. I believe the world was created and approved by love, that it subsists, coheres, and endures by love, and that, insofar as it is redeemable, it can be redeemed only by love. I believe that divine love, incarnate and indwelling [...]
Daniel Patrick Moynihan The central conservative truth is that it is culture, not politics, that determines the success of a society. The central liberal truth is that politics can change a culture and save it from itself. We hope you will join us in The Imaginative Conservative community. The Imaginative Conservative is an on-line [...]