Gilbert Keith Chesterton Quote - Liberty Quotes Blog

"He is a very shallow critic who cannot see an eternal rebel in the heart of a conservative."

by:	Gilbert Keith Chesterton (1874-1936) British essayist, critic, poet, and novelist
Source:	Varied Types
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Categories:	Freedom, Law, Liberty, Responsibility
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Reader comments about this quote:

-- gdgca, windsor
Needs definition of terms. If by conservative he means out of the mainstream or center of thought or policy and by rebel he means antagonism to the mainstream or center of thought or policy I agree with him. Some people (even on this site) will take a position opposiste of the majority or of what they perceive to be the majority every time. That is an "eternal rebel" and I think some type of a misanthrope. -- Waffler, Smith, Arkansas
A misanthrope is defined as one who hates or avoids human society. Conservatives do not hate human society, only what "progressives" are doing to it. -- jim k, austin
Jim, most conservatives I know are progressives. In America, European conservatives would be considered left-wing radicals. Conservatives can apply themselves to any form of government -- RobertSRQ
Yeah, at times it seems the parties switch, go figure. I see being conservative (opinion more then the political party.) as preserving what we have. Acting as wall or windbreaker to anything titled "change", in this way acting as the eternal windbreaker/rebel/wall. -- The Student Philosopher, Utah
-- E Archer, NYC
That is it in a nutshell Jim. That is the perfect description of what kind of rebel we are. -- warren, olathe