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February 27, 2003
Thursday
 
 
Samizdata slogan of the day
Brian Micklethwait (London)  Slogans/quotations

Everyone is reactionary about subjects he understands.
- Robert Conquest, quoted in the Guardian, and then quoted again in The Week

Comments

What a wonderfully thought-provoking quote.


Posted by mark at February 28, 2003 12:50 PM

That's a riff on Mr. Conquest's own "Three Laws of Politics", formulated some years ago:

1. Everyone is conservative about what he knows best.

2. Any organization not explicitly right-wing sooner or later becomes left-wing.

3. The simplest way to explain the behavior of any bureaucratic organization is to assume that it is controlled by a cabal of its enemies.


Posted by Dodd at February 28, 2003 06:44 PM

Anyone intrigued enough by this quotation, should immediately read Conquest's year-old book "Reflections on a Ravaged Century." Just to cite the best remarks he makes would take a hundred pages. You will be delighted.


Posted by Thomas at February 28, 2003 09:46 PM