Quote

Our institutions, if they do not erode entirely, can survive periods of decadence brought on by our material success, eras when the whole notion of civic militarism seems bothersome, and in which free speech is used to focus on our own imperfections without concern for the ghastly nature of our enemies.

Victor Davis Hanson

Change background

T
T
T

Change font

TAGS & TOPICS

Victor Davis Hanson
Age: 71
Born: 1953
Born: September 5
Classical Scholar
Historian
Journalist
University Teacher
Fowler
California
Seems
Concern
Enemies
Decadence
Used
Materials
Entirely
Militarism
Without
Speech
Survive
Civic
Whole
Focus
Material
Ghastly
Enemy
Notion
Civics
Free
Brought
Imperfections
Success
Institutions
Imperfection
Bothersome
Nature
Periods
Eras
Erode

More quotes by Victor Davis Hanson

Image
There's just no - nothing like this country, which is the only, really, multiracial country that's tried to share in a common culture in the history of civilization that's pulled it off. A lot of the times, we want perfection. If we're not perfect, we're not good.
Victor Davis Hanson
Image
I saw more stupid people in graduate school and three decades in academia than I ever did who ran 100 acres without going broke.
Victor Davis Hanson
Image
Even in its third century, America is still the most meritocratic nation in the world.
Victor Davis Hanson
Image
I think people are beating each other up in the halls of Congress, as they did in the late 1850s.
Victor Davis Hanson
Image
Stop seeing socialists and anti-Americans as Democrats. When a Michael Moore compares beheaders to our own Minutemen and laments that too many Democrats were in the World Trade Center, he deserves no platform alongside Wesley Clark or a seat next to Jimmy Carter or praise for his pseudo-dramas from high Democrats.
Victor Davis Hanson
Image
In the case of [Donald] Trump, he was able to tell people that elites live in gated communities, where they have walls around their home.
Victor Davis Hanson
Image
After three elections, voters finally caught on that Obama's faults were not in the stars, but in himself. They apparently tired of the usual distractions from a dismal presidential record.
Victor Davis Hanson
Image
Almost every key indicator of the current economy - unemployment, deficits, housing, energy - argues that Obama's reactionary all-powerful statist approach has only made things far worse.
Victor Davis Hanson
Image
Popular culture is simply a reflection of what the majority seems to want.
Victor Davis Hanson
Image
The president who is most slandered as Hitler will probably prove to be the most zealous advocate of democratic government abroad, the staunchest friend of beleaguered Israel, and the greatest promoter of global individual freedom in our recent memory.
Victor Davis Hanson
Image
We may casually talk of all sorts of new programs and 'stimulus,' but the vast trillion-dollar collective national debt and rising annual deficits will insidiously hamstring almost everything we plan to do.
Victor Davis Hanson
Image
I think the Democrat Party is taking its cue from the media. When the media has a narrative, whether it's the use of profanity, the Democratic Party follows it.
Victor Davis Hanson
Image
In history, one gathers clues like a detective, tries to present an honest account of what most likely happened, and writes a narrative according to what we know and, where we aren't absolutely sure, what might be most likely to have happened, within the generally accepted rules of evidence and sources.
Victor Davis Hanson
Image
Americans spend more money on Botox, face lifts and tummy tucks than on the age-old scourges of polio, small pox and malaria.
Victor Davis Hanson
Image
The fact is, beneath the hype, Iraqis will soon appreciate American help and idealism far more than French perfidy. It is never wrong to be on the side of freedom - never.
Victor Davis Hanson
Image
Nor did Americans believe that Republicans had been waging war on minorities, women, or gays - especially given that Republicans have held the House only since 2011 and have been out of power in the Senate and presidency since 2009.
Victor Davis Hanson
Image
The easily ridiculed, so-so status quo often hides Herculean efforts by those whom we take for granted, and who, working in the shadows, guarantee civilization instead of chaos.
Victor Davis Hanson
Image
I think everybody realizes some things went wrong in the Middle East and that most of the terrorism is emanating from that area.
Victor Davis Hanson
Image
Racial inequality has gotten worse in the last years because any time you have a moribund economy, the people who historically have had more problems getting jobs have suffered. And that, I think, is triggering a lot of the animosity.
Victor Davis Hanson
Image
Entertainers wrongly assume that their fame, money, and influence arise from broad knowledge rather than natural talent, looks, or mastery of a narrow skill.
Victor Davis Hanson