Gilbert K. Chesterton Quotes
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.
Gilbert K. Chesterton, 1874-1936, English Writer, Orthodoxy
Sourced by: Eigen's Political and Historical Quotations
There are a few modern progressive conservatives who believe this point of view, but most generally resist change.
This statement is very revealing in that it illustrates the attitude of the establishment of most developing nations. Traditional change is OK as long as it is not does transformational—ie as long as it does not make any meaningful changes. But modernization requires transformational change; without it there is no major reform and all institutions and power structures remain in their positions.
1st Baron Macaulay. See {620691} for a related idea.
5th Earl of Rosebery. At this point in history, America was growing rapidly, but had not yet become a dominant superpower. Rosebery was prescient enough to realize that although England was the great superpower of the time, the very conservative values were holding the nation back. He saw America as the model, even when England was still the dominant empire in the world.
Many conservatives of the 19th Century honestly believed that for a well-grounded man, it was impossible to make a radical moral or cultural change. Froude thought that it was but should be done very carefully and sparingly. See {636915}.
Gilbert Keith Chesterton KC*SG was an English writer, philosopher, lay theologian, and literary and art critic. He has been referred to as the "prince of paradox". Time magazine observed of his writing style: "Whenever possible Chesterton made his points with popular sayings, proverbs, allegories—first carefully turning them inside out."
