Michael Oakeshott Quotes
Michael Oakeshott was a British political philosopher and one of the most distinctive English conservatives of the twentieth century. He held chairs at Cambridge, Oxford, and the London School of Economics, where he succeeded Harold Laski in the chair of political science. The quotes below are attributed to Michael Oakeshott, organized by topic.
Michael Oakeshott on Knowledge
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Attributed to Michael Oakeshott:
“A tradition of behaviour is a tricky thing to get to know.”
Michael Oakeshott on Life
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Attributed to Michael Oakeshott:
“The conduct of life is a conversation, not an inquiry.”
Michael Oakeshott on Politics
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Attributed to Michael Oakeshott:
“To be conservative is to prefer the familiar to the unknown, to prefer the tried to the untried, fact to mystery, the actual to the possible, the limited to the unbounded.”
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Attributed to Michael Oakeshott:
“In political activity, men sail a boundless and bottomless sea; there is neither harbour for shelter nor floor for anchorage, neither starting-place nor appointed destination.”
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Attributed to Michael Oakeshott:
“Political education is learning how to participate in an arrangement.”