‘Coming up with an authoritative definition of conservatism is not an end in itself so much as a sort of ritualistic pursuit, which we perform expecting some change from it along the lines of a deeper understanding of our past, our present, and the mysteries of the human species and the world. There are any number of ways in which the history of conservative thought could be written, if only as a story of the attempts at grasping the very notion of conservatism.’

‘There can be no question that Thomas Molnar’s thought was often driven by a confrontation with the intensified secularist, materialist, and anti-religious ideological tendencies following the socio-historical and ideological period of the eighteenth century. He sought the roots of modern political philosophies such as liberalism and Marxism.’

‘Today, the expansion of the state apparatus…continues, but is approaching its culmination. In this spirit, that is, the announcement of the ‘‘fourth industrial revolution’’ and ‘‘digitalization’’, all of which fit into the logic of rationalization and rationalism, the world is becoming more and more virtual, and technology is becoming more and more totalitarian, a new mechanism of control.’

‘What can the modern conservative politician do in the face of such a Leviathan, which he did not create? He has two choices: either he retires and no longer wants to be in politics, or he tries to ride this sea serpent, he tries to use the power of the monster to ‘‘take’’ society in a direction that is contrary to the direction of the alleged progress.’

‘If we accept the existence of transcendence as conservatives, we must also accept that everything that is outside the transcendent is sui generis subject to change. Change— and thus clearly also the fact of decline or progress—is made possible by transcendence as everything else ‘‘in’’ the world. The existence of the ‘‘Eternal’’—this is the particular knowledge that is the most important part of the ‘‘wisdom of the ancestors’’ and it is what the moderns have forgotten.’

‘I believe that the true ontological essence of conservatism is contained in the definition: conservatism is the making present of actuality. In this way, conservatism is bound both to the particularities of specific belonging cultures and to the wider belonging civilization…Conservatism as a political philosophy arises when the address of the aforementioned actuality is threatened.’

‘To maintain social order, legitimate authority needs to be guarded so that popular sovereignty cannot derail in a popularity contest, which we witness today, for example in the American elections. It means that our leaders need to be honest about the human condition as well as provide a stability in which each person, in line with their talents and destiny, can thrive.‘

‘Space and time represent the two archetypes of political existence…Space inherently belongs to the polis, the starting point of political ‘residence’ (at least in the European cultural circle), and time belongs to the ship, the instrument of the ‘free movement of capital and labour’; the ship is an ancient invention but it is also—only developed later in time—a symbol of progression, change and technological dominance.’

‘It is rarely taken into account that forcing a general expansion of education also means levelling. And if something is extended in a general and obligatory way, then it will be quantitative rather than qualitative. If we imagine all of this in a school system that is universally compulsory for everyone, then according to today’s well-known hierarchization of knowledge, only knowledge that can be (easily) validated in the so-called ‘labour market’ will be truly appreciated.’

‘Just as liberalism did not succeed in transforming people after socialism, neither did the competing anti-liberal, post-Christian, nihilistic trends. The solution is certainly not political or movement-based: those had already failed by the middle of the twentieth century.’

‘Christian realism is not unprincipled power politics or mere pragmatism, but the intelligent use of power and politics for the sake of representing Christian ideas and the common good (bonum commune), within the bounds of worldly political constraints.’

‘The programme took place in the idyllic settings of the Royal Agricultural University in the Cotswolds and Sundey Hill Farm, where Sir Roger lived and worked for three decades. The week’s agenda was filled with intellectually stimulating lectures, vibrant discussions, and culturally rich activities that provided insight into Sir Roger’s life and work as well as into broader conservative values.’

‘Europe finds itself at a critical situation, faced with a fundamental choice between unity in progressivism or sovereignty in diversity…Central to this decision is the recognition of Europe’s intrinsic diversity, rooted in centuries of history, cultural exchange, and shared heritage. This diversity, inherently European, forms the essence of the continent’s identity and should be cherished and preserved. Importantly, efforts to import diversity from external sources often lead to fragmentation and discord, rather than enriching European society.’

‘It might not be as explicitly visible as substance abuse, but below the surface, we are all struggling with our own imperfection and “sinfulness”. We all let our subjective anxiety overwhelm us and tempt us into a destructive state. Kierkegaard perfectly described how we fall for this anxiety: “Anxiety may be compared with dizziness. He whose eye happens to look down into the yawning abyss becomes dizzy.”’

‘In today’s culture, one has to explain how the modern existential paradigm does not hold the truth to sustain a prosperous life or society. With radical and individualistic generations being raised, nothing is more effective than to point out how existential nihilism does not bring happiness, meaning or prosperity. Cheap surface moralism should therefore be replaced by a transcendental framework of meaning and purpose.’

‘The doubtful mind has been persuasive and embedded in modern Western culture. Therefore, it is important to understand the underlying psychological falsehood. Radical doubt only works as an abstract confusion which paralyses people into a void of distress. Additionally, doubt enhances the inability to make decisions and take responsibility for your actions. To be in a state of the doubtful mind, is to be in a state of looking back.’

‘But national consciousness is precisely the origin of modern democracy and is still crucial for organizing democratic solidarity. Of course, nationalism can lead to a dangerous chauvinism which makes people believe that their nation has the right to bully others, but these cases are, fortunately, exceptional excesses. The big picture is that nationalism and modern parliamentary democracy emerged in the 19th century in intimate connection and presuppose each other.’

‘A successful republic, according to Machiavelli, is characterized by laws that are lived by rather than frequently amended. While no system of governance can achieve absolute perfection, a stable republic can achieve a functional balance. For him Rome serves as a historical exemplar of such a system, where laws were respected and adhered to, placing communal benefits above personal gain, thus prudently managing both public and private affairs.’

‘Before the term “liberal” became ideological, it referred to much more general, non-political characteristics: open-mindedness, generosity, and the like…Liberalism, however, marked the triumphant beginnings of modernity, which aimed to create a political morality called “the conception of rational choice as the generator of political order”.’

‘According to the main line of progressivists, the struggles of history lead to a just or more just society, just as science eventually overcomes “superstition”. Ironically, today’s supporters of the ideology of progress are often those post-Christian materialists who believe that religion…is also nothing more than a kind of “superstition”, even if this superstition is somewhat more complex, has moral lessons and has contributed constructively to “the democratic roots of Europe”. On the other hand, we can find many explanatory arguments as to why the idea of ​​progress in a general sense applied to the human world or human nature can actually be considered a superstition—that is, a contra-factual idea that is completely opposed to the self-image of modern natural scientific thought.’

‘The lessons from Molnar’s book about Bernanos remain fresh today. The “fascist temptation” has not disappeared, but only appears in new forms…Bernanos’s prophecy is interesting because there are still today, and probably always will be, movements that call for a radical break with the past, and announce a return to the “pure source”, with the creation of an imagined future order or return to a past order and hierarchy that has not yet been corrupted.’

‘The question I am left with about Hazony’s rediscovered conservatism is whether it is a conservatism that is, or could be, rediscovered, or is it a conservatism that has never existed. And, even if it did exist at one time, could it ever exist in current circumstances, in which we live in a far more open type of society than Hazony envisages? If this latter is not the case, then as one who values aspects of our openness and indeed our rationality more than Hazony appears to, I have to conclude that, for all its merits and passion, Hazony’s book offers us no more than a dream.’

‘The flaw in the progressive hyper focus on moral rights is that it removes the ability of reality testing outside the subjective experience. Therefore, it feeds our narcissistic tendencies, which in turn enhances destructive behaviour, anxiety, depression, and above all, undermines mental resilience. Psychologically speaking, focusing only on our moral beliefs gives rise to many problems. First and foremost, human identity can only be stable if it is embedded in an external world.’

‘In the modern, global-technological civilization based on the parallel structures of technical rationality, the idea of ​​freedom still arises as an “abstract freedom” that is allegedly “the same for everyone”. But, regarding recent facts and conditions, this concept of freedom has lost all realistic content. Following the example of the idea of ​​philosophical atomism, the human individual is still imagined as an atom, and from this social atomism it also follows that the modern individual is no longer an organ of a transcendental reality, but rather the social “whole” is derived from this collective of individuals.’

‘The phenomenon of the conservative revolution was partly a consequence of the collapse of the German state (formed in the 19th century by Bismarckian ‘state-building) after the First World War, and was born out of its internal and external crisis, its defeat in the war. In the broader context of ideological and political history, however, the conservative revolution, albeit a cataclysmic one, cannot be seen as the consequence of a single political event.’

‘Various machines also existed before modernity: the builders of the Gothic cathedrals of the Middle Ages also had considerable engineering and pragmatic knowledge, so it was not that they lacked the necessary knowledge, but above all they lacked the formulation and application of the machinic idea. The view that we must ceaselessly improve the human destiny by taking human destiny “into our own hands” is a historically new development, not much older than a couple of centuries at most.’

‘A radical paradigm shift is required in which mental suffering is understood not in isolation, but in relation to consuming and depriving human existence of its roots: family, community, and a transcendental orientation. Only then can Hungarian society, as well as the West as a whole, like a reemerging forest, rediscover itself and create a society based on human flourishing instead of technological determinism; a society full of mentally resilient people with meaningful lives.’

‘In today’s democracy, authority is in crisis because real authority cannot follow from mere quantity. Quantity is always relative, and the thing what is ‘never identical to itself’ cannot awaken the intuition of true respect, true authority, and true supremacy. A real authority is someone to which, as Edmund Burke writes, one can “freely and proudly submit” himself. Real authority would also require the recognition of the legitimacy of a transcendental sphere, beyond the world of relativity.’

‘Schmitt’s thought becomes particularly relevant in understanding how governments define the parameters of inclusion and exclusion in their responses to the pandemic. Schmitt’s theories provide a realistic framework for analysing such complex political issues, and understanding such a critical perspective might encourage visible improvements in liberal legal and political systems.’

Spengler’s work has not lost any relevance over the century that has passed since it was released, but rather has become increasingly significant: it is now one of the inescapable foundations of the philosophy of history. Many of the predictions concerning the fate of humanity—especially the distinctions Spengler drew between culture and civilization—do not seem to contradict the major ideological, political, artistic, cultural, social, and economic trends of the present day.