N. K. Jemisin Quotes

Conservatism is not the problem. Conservatism is the founding of this country, essentially. Conservatism isn't even really an ideology. Conservatism is just what is right, proper, decent, and moral. That's all it is.

What drew me to conservatism years ago was the fact that it gave discipline a slightly higher status than virtue. This meant it could not be subverted by passing notions of the good.

There is grand romance in The Lord of the Rings. It's an important part of epic literature.

The point of conservatism is not that it prevents movement forward and upward, but that it prevents movement backward and downward, into chaotic darkness and a return to a primitive state.

Now, there's a desire for order, authority coming from a feeling that society has gone too far to the side of individualism and liberalism.

True conservatives fear anything that is at odds with the status quo, even to the extent of being unable to recognise when the status quo represents injustice. And reactionary conservatives actually want to tear down the gains of the past.

The classic epic fantasy is good versus evil, underdog against power.

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

Lord of the Rings is a good thing for us because it opened the door for the genre in general. Le Guin's stories are very different from Lord of the Rings.

'Game of Thrones' has multiple story lines, multiple countries, and it's complete fantasy.

I am conservative by temperament. I disapprove of criminal activity. I am very solidly and markedly on the side of authority. The truth is I would rather err on the side of too much authority than too little.

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?

Nearly all monster stories depend for their success on Jack killing the Giant, Beowulf or St. George slaying the Dragon, Harry Potter triumphing over the basilisk. That is their inner grammar, and the whole shape of the story leads towards it.

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.

The primary function of myth is to validate an existing social order. Myth enshrines conservative social values, raising tradition on a pedestal. It expresses and confirms, rather than explains or questions, the sources of cultural attitudes and values.

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

Conservatism is the politics of reality.

The castle which conservatism is set to defend is the actual state of things, good and bad.

Men are conservatives when they are least vigorous, or when they are most luxurious. They are conservatives after dinner.

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

What brought Conservatism into existence was the French Revolution.

Traditional autocrats leave in place existing allocations of wealth, power, status, and other re-sources which in most traditional societies favor an affluent few and maintain masses in poverty. But they worship traditional gods and observe traditional taboos. They do not disturb the habitual rhythms of work and leisure, habitual places of residence, habitual patterns of family and personal relations.

Conservatives want to keep things as they are, while revolutionists turn things upside down.

Conservatives hold on to things not only because they are attached to them, but also because they do not see the sense in radical change, until someone has told them what it will lead to.

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