The Conservative Mind (Henry Regnery, 1953)

Russell Kirk · c. 1953

Russell Kirk did not write this page.

Every claim below was made in this book, quoted word for word and numbered in the order the piece makes them, so you can read it there rather than take our word for it. The book prints chapter headings its extracted text does not preserve, so the claims below are in the book's order but not grouped. The sentence above each quote is our reading of the claim, not their wording. Each quote was checked against a stored copy of the page at build time; where the two differ, the quote is the fact.

Our reading
The only true equality is moral equality; enforced levelling leads to despair

Their wordsThe only true equality is moral equality; all other attempts at levelling lead to despair, if enforced by positive legislation.
Our reading
A divine intent rules society and conscience, linking the living and the dead in duty

Their wordsBelief that a divine intent rules society as well as conscience, forging an eternal chain of right and duty which links great and obscure, living and dead.
Our reading
Property and freedom are inseparable, and economic levelling is not progress

Their wordsPersuasion that property and freedom are inseparably connected, and that economic levelling is not economic progress.
Our reading
Change is not reform; innovation is more often a conflagration than a torch of progress

Their wordsRecognition that change and reform are not identical, and that innovation is a devouring conflagration more often than it is a torch of progress.

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