“Any idea of education that is not connected to an idea of formation—of habitation in virtue, inculcation in tradition, veneration of the high and noble—is unavoidably impoverished.”

“That’s what conservatism really means, fundamentally, is to understand society not as just individuals and government, but to think of it in terms of everything that happens in between. That huge space between the individual and the state is where society actually is. And that’s where families are, it’s where communities are, it’s where the market economy is.”

“This is often exactly the task of the conservative—to restate old truths and reassert their relevance by helping a new generation understand them in its own terms. It is vital not only because conservatives believe that old truths remain true but also because we think that human nature does not change, and therefore that every generation—because it starts from scratch—must be helped to see what our civilization has learned through countless rounds of painful trial and error.”