Key thinker quotes - conservatism Flashcards
Burke on society
“To love the little platoon we belong to in society, is the first principle of public affections”
Hobbes on society
“Life in the state of nature is nasty, brutish and short”
Nozick on the economy
“Taxation of earnings is on par with forced labour”
Oakeshott on the economy
“To suppose that the market can be made to work in the interests of society is a delusion.”
Hobbes on the state
“Government is necessary, not because man is naturally bad but because man is by nature more individualistic than social.”
Burke on the state
“Society cannot exist unless a controlling power upon will and appetite be placed somewhere.”
Oakeshott on the state
“The rule of law bakes no bread, it is unable to distribute loaves or fishes, and it cannot protect itself against external assault, but it remains the most civilised and least burdensome conception of a state yet to be devised.”
Rand on the state
“The smallest minority on earth is the individual. Those who deny individual rights cannot claim to be the defenders of minorities.”
Nozick on the state
“No state more extensive than the minimal state can be justified.”
Hobbes on the economy
“It is fairer to tax people on what they extract from the economy, than to tax them on what they produce for the economy, as roughly measured by their income.”
Burke on the economy
“Economy is a distributive virtue, and consists not in saving but in selection.”
Rand on the economy
“All the evils popularly ascribed to businessmen and to capitalism, were not caused by an unregulated economy or by a free market, but by government intervention into the economy.”
Oakeshott on society
“We consider ourselves to be free because no one in our society is allowed unlimited power. The secret of its freedom is that it is composed of a multitude of organisations.”
Rand on society
“Freedom: to ask nothing. To expect nothing. To depend on nothing.”
Nozick on society
“You can’t satisfy everybody; especially if there are those who will be dissatisfied unless not everybody is satisfied.”
