Over the years, there have been some great nuggets that get to the heart of conservatism’s essence:
- “The individual is foolish, but the species is wise.” – Edmund Burke
- “From the crooked timber of humanity no truly straight thing can be made.” — Immanuel Kant
- “Any man who is under 30, and is not a liberal, has not heart; and any man who is over 30, and is not a conservative, has no brains.” – attributed to Sir Winston Churchill
- “A neoconservative is a liberal mugged by reality.” – Irving Kristol
In a recent post on the barebones Wikipedia entry on “Jewish guilt”, Steve Sailer repeats a line of his that ought to join the pantheon of conservative koans:
… “Jewish guilt” and “white guilt” never seem to be discussed simultaneously. As far as I can make out, “white guilt” is the worry that your ancestors were too ethnocentric, while “Jewish guilt” is the worry that you aren’t ethnocentric enough for your ancestors.
