William F. Buckley, Jr. Quotes

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• Though liberals do a great deal of talking about hearing other points of view, it sometimes shocks them to learn that there are other points of view.

  William F. Buckley, Jr.

  Views, Talking, Hearing

  "Up from Liberalism". Book by William F. Buckley Jr., 1959.

  186 Copy quote

• 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.

  William F. Buckley, Jr.

  Government, Boston, People

  "Goldstein: How Universities Killed Free Speech" by Lorrie Goldstein, torontosun.com. November 22, 2017.

  161 Copy quote

• I won't insult your intelligence by suggesting that you really believe what you just said.

  William F. Buckley, Jr.

  Believe, Insults You, Comeback

  119 Copy quote

• Liberals claim to want to give a hearing to other views, but then are shocked and offended to discover that there are other views.

  William F. Buckley, Jr.

  Offended You, Views, Giving

  "The Nastiest Things Ever Said about Democrats". Book by Martin Higgins, p. 93, 2006.

  138 Copy quote

• I will not cede more power to the state. I will not willingly cede more power to anyone, not to the state, not to General Motors, not to the CIO. I will hoard my power like a miser, resisting every effort to drain it away from me. I will then use my power, as I see fit. 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 arived at yesterday at the voting booth. That is a program of sorts, is it not? It is certainly program enough to keep conservatives busy, and Liberals at bay. And the nation free.

  William F. Buckley, Jr.

  Life, Mean, Power

  "Up from Liberalism". Book by William F. Buckley Jr., 1959.

  140 Copy quote

• In the hands of a skillful indoctrinator, the average student not only thinks what the indoctrinator wants him to think . . . but is altogether positive that he has arrived at his position by independent intellectual exertion. This man is outraged by the suggestion that he is the flesh-and-blood tribute to the success of his indoctrinators.

  William F. Buckley, Jr.

  Independent, Men, Thinking

  William F. Buckley, Jr. (1959). “Up from Liberalism”

  146 Copy quote

• What yells out at the US public . . . is the incandescent hypocrisy of so many people who, in the name of free speech, persecute its practitioners if their opinions are conservative.

  William F. Buckley, Jr.

  Names, Hypocrisy, People

  130 Copy quote

• The socialized state is to justice, order, and freedom what the Marquis de Sade is to love.

  William F. Buckley, Jr.

  Order, Justice, Politics

  116 Copy quote

• The best defense against usurpatory government is an assertive citizenry.

  William F. Buckley, Jr.

  Freedom, Government, Democracy

  "WindFall: The End of the Affair". Book by William F. Buckley Jr., 1992.

  129 Copy quote

• If only the left hated crime as much as they hated hate.

  William F. Buckley, Jr.

  Hate, Politics, Crime

  89 Copy quote

• 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.

  William F. Buckley, Jr.

  People, Survival, Politics

  119 Copy quote

• The duel between Christianity and atheism is the most important in the world, and the struggle between individualism and collectivism is the same struggle reproduced on another level.

  William F. Buckley, Jr.

  Struggle, Important, Atheism

  William F. Buckley Jr. (2010). “Athwart History: Half a Century of Polemics, Animadversions, and Illuminations: A William F. Buckley Jr. Omnibus”, p.16, Encounter Books

  100 Copy quote

• Idealism is fine, but as it approaches reality, the costs become prohibitive.

  William F. Buckley, Jr.

  Reality, Cost, Idealism And Realism

  90 Copy quote

• Conservatism is the politics of reality

  William F. Buckley, Jr.

  Reality, Conservatism

  31 Copy quote

• Only government can cause inflation, preserve monopoly, and punish enterprise.

  William F. Buckley, Jr.

  Government, Causes, Monopoly

  William F. Buckley, Jr. (2009). “The Reagan I Knew”, p.241, Basic Books

  54 Copy quote

• What was wrong with communism wasn't aberrant leadership, it was communism.

  William F. Buckley, Jr.

  Political, Communism

  27 Copy quote

• Decent people should ignore politics, if only they could be confident that politics would ignore them

  William F. Buckley, Jr.

  People, Be Confident, Should

  56 Copy quote

• A Conservative is a fellow who is standing athwart history yelling 'Stop!'

  William F. Buckley, Jr.

  Yelling, Political, Politics

  "Why Republican Politicians Keep Selling Out Freedom" by Jo Jorgensen, gos.sbc.edu. 1996.

  104 Copy quote

• The academic community has in it the biggest concentration of alarmists, cranks and extremists this side of the giggle house.

  William F. Buckley, Jr.

  House, Community, Politics

  19 Copy quote

• The largest cultural menace in America is the conformity of the intellectual cliques which, in education as well as the arts, are out to impose upon the nation their modish fads and fallacies, and have nearly succeeded in doing so. In this cultural issue, we are, without reservations, on the side of excellence (rather than "newness") and of honest intellectual combat (rather than conformity).

  William F. Buckley, Jr.

  Art, America, Issues

  "Our Mission Statement" by William F. Buckley Jr., www.nationalreview.com. November 19, 1955.

  23 Copy quote

• Back in the thirties we were told we must collectivize the nation because the people were so poor. Now we are told we must collectivize the nation because the people are so rich.

  William F. Buckley, Jr.

  People, Rich, Poor

  "Biography / Personal Quotes". www.imdb.com.

  127 Copy quote

• I would like to electrocute everyone who uses the word 'fair' in connection with income tax policies.

  William F. Buckley, Jr.

  Connections, Income, Use

  67 Copy quote

• Truth is a demure lady, much too ladylike to knock you on your head and drag you to her cave. She is there, but people must want her, and seek her out.

  William F. Buckley, Jr.

  People, Caves, Want

  94 Copy quote

• ... to say that the CIA and the KGB engage in similar practices is the equivalent of saying that the man who pushes an old lady into the path of a hurtling bus is not to be distinguished from the man who pushes an old lady out of the path of a hurtling bus: on the grounds that, after all, in both cases someone is pushing old ladies around.

  William F. Buckley, Jr.

  Men, Practice, Kgb

  The Right Word (1996).

  80 Copy quote

• You cannot paint the Mona Lisa by assigning one dab each to a thousand painters.

  William F. Buckley, Jr.

  Dabs, Paint, Accomplish

  William F. Buckley Jr. (2010). “Athwart History: Half a Century of Polemics, Animadversions, and Illuminations: A William F. Buckley Jr. Omnibus”, p.41, Encounter Books

  89 Copy quote

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