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He was a conservative all right, but invariably he gave the impression that he was a conservative because he was surrounded by liberals that he had been a revolutionist if that had been required in order to be socially disruptive.

William F. Buckley, Jr.

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William F. Buckley, Jr.
Age: 82 †
Born: 1925
Born: November 24
Died: 2008
Died: February 27
Journalist
Novelist
Politician
Television Presenter
Writer
New York City
New York
William F. Buckley Jr.
William Frank Buckley Jr.
William Frank Buckley
Jr.
William Frank Buckley
Conservative
Revolutionist
Gave
Disruptive
Order
Invariably
Right
Socially
Liberals
Surrounded
Required
Impression

More quotes by William F. Buckley, Jr.

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Conservatism is the tacit acknowledgement that all that is finally important in human experience is behind us that the crucial explorations have been undertaken, and that it is given to man to know what are the great truths that emerged from them.
William F. Buckley, Jr.
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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.
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Bobby Kennedy and Nelson Rockefeller are having a row, ostensibly over the plight of New York's mentally retarded, a loose definition of which would include everyone in New York who voted for Bobby Kennedy or Nelson Rockefeller.
William F. Buckley, Jr.
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Some of my instincts are reprehensible.
William F. Buckley, Jr.
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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.
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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.
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They [Theodore White and Lou Harris] took turns weeping, and finally concluded that Rockefeller got the votes of everyone in California who is a Negro, a Jew, a Mexican, and a college graduate, while Goldwater got the votes of every millionaire. Which certainly makes California the land of opportunity.
William F. Buckley, Jr.
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Why does baloney avoid the grinder?
William F. Buckley, Jr.
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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 arrived at yesterday at the voting booth.
William F. Buckley, Jr.
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One must bear in mind that the expansion of federal activity is a form of eating for politicians.
William F. Buckley, Jr.
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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.
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People are beginning to wish that the voters had been given breathometer tests when they voted in the present government.
William F. Buckley, Jr.
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Government can't do anything for you except in proportion as it can do something to you.
William F. Buckley, Jr.
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The principal sponsors of the terrorists are not religious fanatics. Palestine's Yasser Arafat, Iraq's Saddam Hussein, and Syria's Assad family have made themselves the icons of Islamism despite the fact that they are well-known atheists who live un-Muslim lives and have persecuted unto death the Muslim movements in their countries.
William F. Buckley, Jr.
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Christianity finds all its doctrines stated in the Bible, and Christianity denies no part, nor attempts to add anything to the Word of God.
William F. Buckley, Jr.
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A capitalist is someone who derives a substantial share of his income from his equity in producing companies. On this scale the figures are discouraging. Approximately ninety percent of the capital of this country is owned by five or less percent of the American people.
William F. Buckley, Jr.
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All adventure is now reactionary.
William F. Buckley, Jr.
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Arlen Specter is the man who voted in favor of Bill Clinton during impeachment, voted against Robert Bork for the Supreme Court, voted against school choice for the District of Columbia, endorses an absolutist interpretation of abortion rights. He is bright and he is tough and he belongs elsewhere.
William F. Buckley, Jr.
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The Beatles are not merely awful. I would consider it sacrilegious to say anything less than that they are godawful.
William F. Buckley, Jr.
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The socialized state is to justice, order, and freedom what the Marquis de Sade is to love.
William F. Buckley, Jr.