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.”
Rand on the state
“The smallest minority on earth is the individual.”
Nozick on the state
“No state more extensive than the minimal state can be justified.”
Oakeshott on society
“We consider ourselves to be free because no one in our society is allowed unlimited power.”
Rand on society
“Freedom: to ask nothing. To expect nothing. To depend on nothing.”
Burke on human nature
“Gambling is a principle inherent in human nature.”
Nozick on human nature
“From each as they choose, to each as they are chosen.”
Oakeshott on human nature
“Every human being is born an heir to an inheritance to which he can succeed only in a process of learning.”
