Either order in the cosmos is real, or all is chaos. If we are adrift in chaos, then the fragile egalitarian doctrines and emancipating programs of the revolutionary reformers have no significance; for in a vortex of chaos, only force and appetite signify.

— Russell Kirk The Conservative Mind: From Burke to Eliot (1953)

More quotes by Russell Kirk

The Conservative Mind: From Burke to Eliot (1953)

Prescription, Authority, and Ordered Freedom,” in What is Conservatism? (1964)

The Conservative Mind: From Burke to Eliot (1953)

The Roots of American Order (1974)

Economics: Work and Prosperity in Christian Perspective (1989)

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