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Quote by Russell Kirk

Work

America's British Culture

This book delves into the various aspects of British culture that have shaped American society, including language, literature, politics, and social norms. more

Author

Russell Kirk
Russell Kirk

Russell Kirk, an American historian, was born in October 1918 and died on April 29, 1994. His research focused on conservative thought, American history, and culture, and had a profound impact on 20th-century American politics and culture. more

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“To live his life in his own way, to call his house his castle, to enjoy the fruits of his own labour, to educate his children as his conscience directs, to save for their prosperity after his death -- these are wishes deeply ingrained in civilised man. Their realization is almost as necessary to our virtues as to our happiness. From their total frustration disastrous results both moral and psychological might follow.”

“I am beginning to realize that "sanity" is no longer a value or an end in itself. The "sanity" of modern man is about as useful to him as the huge bulk and muscles of the dinosaur. If he were a little less sane, a little more doubtful, a little more aware of his absurdities and contradictions, perhaps there might be a possibility of his survival.”

“Rousseau had it backwards. We are NOT born free. We are born in the chains of the random and the reflexive, and are ignorant and unreasonable by simple nature. We must learn to be free, to organize the random and detect the reflexive, to acquire the knowledge of particulars and the powers of reason. The examined life is impossible if we cannot examine, order, classify, define, distinguish, always in minute particulars.”