Roger Scruton Quotes

Conservatism cherishes tradition; innovation fetishizes novelty. They tug in different directions, the one toward the past, the other toward the future.

The assumption must be that those who can see value only in tradition, or versions of it, deny man's ability to adapt to changing circumstances.

Success follows those adept at preserving the substance of the past by clothing it in the forms of the future.

We need to open up the future. We also need to keep everything valuable from the past.

The world changes, but I want that change to be necessary or respectful of what has happened before. Everything changes, and that's quite right.

Conservation destroys the present. If we are only busy preserving the past, we are not living in the present and unable to look forward. I am against conservation. We should let young people move forward, whether we agree with them or not. We should let new things happen.

What was good enough for my father is good enough for me" is a treasured English axiom which, if strictly carried out, would have kept us to wooden ploughs and water clocks. In these days we need to be inoculated with some of the nervous energy of the Americans.

All conservatism is based upon the idea that if you leave things alone, you leave them as they are. But you do not. If you leave a thing alone, you leave it to a torrent of change.

You can embrace nostalgia and history and tradition at the same time - it has to progress or it can't survive.

We should not fear what is new, but we should not throw out that which is in the past but is still valuable.

From the inception of this series, Mike and I were very interested in exploring the theme of tradition versus progress. We always like the struggle for balance to be a central theme of our stories, so as we introduce all of these changes to the 'Avatar' world, we get to see how people react and try to realign themselves.

That man's the true Conservative who lops the moldered branch away.

When you talk about change, you know what makes it really tough for people is on the one hand you've got tradition, and on the other hand you've got change; in many people's mind, change equals modernization. Tradition, however. I'm a big tradition guy.

If we learn the art of yielding what must be yielded to the changing present, we can save the best of the past.

I am a traditionalist, and I'm an innovator. Most of what I do is to weigh change and legislate to the best of my ability on what should change and what should not. Do I have a respect for tradition? Of course I do. Do I have a blind belief in it? No.

Building the future holds more attraction than ancestor worship, whichever ancestor we're talking about.

The conservative who resists change is as valuable as the radical who proposes it.

Come, come, my conservative friend, wipe the dew off your spectacles, and see that the world is moving.

At every crossroads on the path that leads to the future, tradition has placed 10,000 men to guard the past.

We are a party of innovation. We do not reject our traditions, but we are willing to adapt to changing circumstances, when change we must. We are willing to suffer the discomfort of change in order to achieve a better future.

Tradition, by its very nature, includes continuous change.

That was then. This is now.

If we want everything to remain as it is, it will be necessary for everything to change.

The dogmas of the quiet past, are inadequate to the stormy present.

One who uses an ancient rule to govern the present does not necessarily see the changes that have taken place.