Roger Scruton Quotes

Conservatism, I believe, is mainly due to want of imagination.

Man is by nature a conservative animal and government is his instrument for preventing rapid change.

But you say you are conservative - eminently conservative - while we are revolutionary, destructive, or something of the sort. What is conservatism? Is it not adherence to the old and tried, against the new and untried?

A conservative is a man who will not look at the new moon out of respect for that ancient institution, the old one.

A conservative is a man with two perfectly good legs who, however, has never learned how to walk forward.

A radical generally meant a man who thought he could somehow pull up the root without affecting the flower. A conservative generally meant a man who wanted to conserve everything except his own reason for conserving anything.

A conservative believes nothing should be done for the first time.

Latin Americans glorify their past so ceaselessly that they make it almost impossible to advocate change.

Conservatism clings to what has been established, fearing that, once we begin to question the beliefs that we have inherited, all the values of life will be destroyed.

A conservative is someone who makes no changes and consults his grandmother when in doubt.

Those interested in perpetuating present conditions are always in tears about the marvelous past that is about to disappear.

A conservative is someone who believes in reform. But not now!

Far too many of our elected officials are chained to an ideology that is rooted in the past. They are keepers of normalcy who embrace things as they've always been.

I'm a conservative kind of person. I don't think rightwing is quite the same thing. But I acknowledge my conservatism of temperament.

Opposition to social change is but one pillar of contemporary Republicanism.

In reality, anyone can call themselves a conservative. There is no secret handshake or written test to prove your bona fides. But the true conservative reaches outcomes by respecting and heeding to well-developed, sound principles.

The most conservative persons I ever met are college undergraduates.

Those interested in perpetuating present conditions are always in tears about the marvelous past that is about to disappear, without having so much as a smile for the young future.

Conservatism discards Prescription, shrinks from Principle, disavows Progress; having rejected all respect for antiquity, it offers no redress for the present, and makes no preparation for the future.

A conservative is one who admires radicals centuries after they're dead.

Social conservatism, business conservatism: the one side constitutes the other, like some infernal Mobius strip.

The Tea Party is a rear guard, not a vanguard.

Naturally, I'm conservative; I'm a Republican. I always was.

The conservative movement today is like that tall ship with its proud captain: strong, accomplished but veering off course into the dangerous and uncharted waters of big government republicanism.

I would describe myself as a 'total conservative, a conscientious one.'