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The objection of substance to this position is that, in the hands of those who actually believe it, as Mr Lane has shown at the Race Relations Board, it becomes an exercise in liberal fascism, dedicating itself to the improvement of the nation's mind whether the nation's mind wishes to be improved or not, and showing itself only too willing to suppress expressions of opinion that conflict with it.

— Maurice Cowling The Present Position (1978)

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More quotes by Maurice Cowling

If there is a class war—and there is—it is important that it should be handled with subtlety and skill.

The Present Position (1978)

Liberalism is essentially the belief that there can be a reconciliation of all difficulties and differences, and since there can't, it is a misleading way to approach politics.

I'm an intellectual Thatcherite, just as I was an intellectual Powellite, and I think it important that the Conservative party should be in good hands and that it should win elections.

[L]ow-keyed respectability...is the real religion of the English people.

The Present Position (1978)

What needs to be explained is not particularly why Roman Catholics go to church, but why Protestants don't. Somehow the gut seems to have gone out of English Protestantism. It's turned into these post-Christian moralistic sentiments.

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Quote text and notes from Wikiquote: Maurice Cowling (page history), available under CC BY-SA 4.0. Source quality and labels are our own summary of what Wikiquote records.