The American conservative movement lost one of its founding fathers today.
I just heard the news that William F. Buckley Jr. passed away at his home in Connecticut.
I owe a great deal to Buckely and his magazine.
When I first discovered National Review I was in the midst of political maturation process from a liberal by default to a proud conservative. I strongly beleive that conservatism is, at its heart, a temperament. Its a temperament I've always had, but never fully understood until National Review exposed me to the serious intellectual and philosophical roots that gird the conservative temperament. The writers and thinkers whose eloquent words graced the pages of National Review provided an education far better than anything I learned as an undergraduate or graduate student.
American conservatism begins with Buckley and National Review, his life's work and legacy offer an example how to advance and articulate conservative ideas with intellectual rigor, civility, and panache.
Some of Buckley's greatest quotes:
"A Conservative is a fellow who is standing athwart history yelling "Stop!"”
“Liberals claim to want to give a hearing to other views, but then are shocked and offended to discover that there are other views.”
“I'd rather entrust the government of the United States to the first 400 people listed in the Boston telephone directory than to the faculty of Harvard University.”
“Liberals, it has been said, are generous with other peoples' money, except when it comes to questions of national survival when they prefer to be generous with other people's freedom and security.”
“I mean to live my life an obedient man, but obedient to God, subservient to the wisdom of my ancestors; never to the authority of political truths arrived at yesterday at the voting booth"
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