There are no lost causes because there are no gained causes. Russell Kirk More Quotes by Russell Kirk More Quotes From Russell Kirk ...so mankind is now trapped by the failure of its energies and by the depletion of those natural resources that men have plundered wantonly. Russell Kirk conservativeenergymen Mine was not an Enlightened mind, I now was aware: it was a Gothic mind, medieval in its temper and structure. I did not love cold harmony and perfect regularity of organization; what I sought was variety, mystery, tradition, the venerable, the awful. Russell Kirk organizationperfectmind ...ambition without pious restraint must end in failure, often involving in its ruin that beautiful reverence which solaces common men for the obscurity and poverty of their lot. Russell Kirk ambitionbeautifulmen Rather than ennobling the public mind and cementing the social fabric, applied science speedily became the chief weapon of a gross individualism, which was anathema to the frugal and righteous (John Quincy) Adams, the source of enormous fortunes divorced from duty, the instrument of unscrupulous ambition and rapacious materialism. Presently, it came to scar the very of the country which Adams loved, a disfiguring process uninterrupted since his day. Russell Kirk ambitionmindcountry A society which denies the heart its role becomes, in very short order, a heartless society. Russell Kirk heartorderinteresting The libertarian thinks that this world is chiefly a stage for the swaggering ego; the conservative finds himself instead a pilgrim in a realm of mystery and wonder, where duty, discipline, and sacrifice are required-and where the reward is that love which passeth all understanding. Russell Kirk sacrificedisciplinethinking The automobile, practical since 1906, was proceeding to disintegrate and stamp anew the pattern of communication, manners, and city life in the United States, by 1918; before long, men would begin to see that the automobile, and the mass production techniques which made its possible, could alter the national character and morality more thoroughly than could the most absolute of tyrants. As a mechanical Jacobin, it rivaled the dynamo. The productive process which made these vehicles cheap was still more subversive of the old ways than was the gasoline engine itself. Russell Kirk communicationcharactermen The principle of real leadership ignored, the immortal objects of society forgotten, practical conservatism degenerated into mere laudation of private enterprise, economic policy almost wholly surrendered to special interests. Russell Kirk principlesrealspecial I did not love cold harmony and perfect regularity of organization; what I sought was variety, mystery, tradition, the venerable, the awful. I despised sophisters and calculators; I was groping for faith, honor, and prescriptive loyalties. I would have given any number of neo-classical pediments for one poor battered gargoyle. Russell Kirk loyaltyorganizationnumbers To complete the rout of traditionalists, in America an impression began to arise that the new industrial and acquisitive interests are the conservative interest, that conservatism is simply a political argument in defense of large accumulations of private property, that expansion, centralization, and accumulation are the tenets of conservatives. From this confusion, from the popular belief that Hamilton was the founder of American conservatism, the forces of tradition in the United States never have fully escaped. Russell Kirk politicalconfusionamerica Principle #6: Recognition that change and reform are not identical, and that innovation is a devouring conflagration more often than it is a torch of progress. Russell Kirk torchesprogressinnovation Life is for action, and if we desire to know anything, we must make up our minds to be ignorant about much. Russell Kirk ignorantminddesire True conformity to the dictates of nature requires reverence for the past and solicitude for the future. 'Nature' is not simply the sensation of the passing moment; it is eternal, though we evanescent men experience only a fragment of it. We have no right to imperil the happiness of posterity by impudently tinkering with the heritage of humanity. Russell Kirk humanitymenpast Despite much talk in this land about religious freedom, churches and their schools now confront grave difficulties. Russell Kirk religiouschristianschool ...only the unscrupulous or shortsighted can defend pollution and degradation of the countryside. Russell Kirk pollutiondegradationconservative Ordinary human laws are the means - however imperfect - by which we express our understanding of the enduring moral law. Russell Kirk understandinglawmean The natural law is an instrument for progress, not a weapon of revolution. Russell Kirk progressweaponslaw Politics moves upward into ethics, and ethics ascends to theology. Russell Kirk ethicsinterestingmoving And Burke, could he see our century, never would concede that a consumption-society, so near to suicide, is the end for which Providence has prepared man. Russell Kirk centurysuicidemen Common Reader for Everyday Ecologists Russell Kirk everydayreadercommon
