Tributes to Sir Roger Scruton

 

British philosopher Roger Scruton attends in a Blue – Green summit in Brussels, Belgium, 24th May 2018. (Photo by Alexandros Michailidis – Shutterstock)

Conservative writers from all over the Anglosphere continue to react to the passing of Sir Roger Scruton:

Toby Young (Daily Mail)

…Roger Scruton, who died yesterday aged 75, always remained something of an outcast, vilified by the liberal establishment for daring to challenge the fashionable nostrums of our age. Because he was an unapologetic conservative and defender of Western civilisation he was never given the respect he deserved.

James Delingpole (Breitbart)

…Britain has lost her greatest conservative thinker, writer, fox hunting man, philosopher and all-round-hero of the right.

Like so many of the bravest and best, he was a prophet almost without honour in his own country.

Douglas Murray (The Spectator)

His achievements were remarkable. He was a man who appeared to know about absolutely everything, producing books on architecture, philosophy, beauty, music, religion and much more. In many ways – as his former student Rabbi Sacks once said to me – he seemed bigger than the age.

Finally, from the man himself. In the Christmas issue of The Spectator, the editors ask Sir Roger to look back at a very trying year for him. “During this year much was taken from me — my reputation, my standing as a public intellectual, my position in the Conservative movement, my peace of mind, my health. But much more was given back…” he wrote. “Falling to the bottom in my own country, I have been raised to the top elsewhere, and looking back over the sequence of events I can only be glad that I have lived long enough to see this happen. Coming close to death you begin to know what life means, and what it means is gratitude.”

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  1. Joseph Stanko Coolidge
    Joseph Stanko
    @JosephStanko

    Oh dear, an unfortunate way to begin the new decade.  At least his work and wisdom will live on. Requiescat in pace.

    • #1
  2. ToryWarWriter Coolidge
    ToryWarWriter
    @ToryWarWriter

     

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1eD9RDTl6tM

    • #2
  3. Manny Coolidge
    Manny
    @Manny

    Over at Imaginative Conservative they have the text from Sir Roger’s final speech titled, “A Thing Called Civilization.” A couple of quotes:

    Now, I myself have obviously got into an awful lot of trouble through defending Western civilization. It seems a strange feature of our times that the more you’re disposed to defend it, the more you are regarded as some kind of narrow-minded bigot. But the people who make that accusation are the real ones with the narrow mind. They’re people who do not see exactly how large and comprehensive our civilization has been and still is.

    And

    And I feel that now is the time, through institutions like ISI especially, to bring courage and conviction again to young people who know that there’s something wrong with this activist witch hunting of the old curriculum. The time has come, it seems to me, for people like me and the older generation of teachers to give courage to young people, to say: Look, you have a civilization and inheritance which helps you to understand these things. Giving way to activism of this kind, activism which excludes whole realms of human knowledge, is not doing yourself a favor. It’s not bringing to you the things that you actually need in the world into which you’re going to progress.

    It’s well worth reading in its entirety.

    • #3
  4. ShaunaHunt Inactive
    ShaunaHunt
    @ShaunaHunt

    Manny (View Comment):

    Over at Imaginative Conservative they have the text from Sir Roger’s final speech titled, “A Thing Called Civilization.” A couple of quotes:

    Now, I myself have obviously got into an awful lot of trouble through defending Western civilization. It seems a strange feature of our times that the more you’re disposed to defend it, the more you are regarded as some kind of narrow-minded bigot. But the people who make that accusation are the real ones with the narrow mind. They’re people who do not see exactly how large and comprehensive our civilization has been and still is.

    And

    And I feel that now is the time, through institutions like ISI especially, to bring courage and conviction again to young people who know that there’s something wrong with this activist witch hunting of the old curriculum. The time has come, it seems to me, for people like me and the older generation of teachers to give courage to young people, to say: Look, you have a civilization and inheritance which helps you to understand these things. Giving way to activism of this kind, activism which excludes whole realms of human knowledge, is not doing yourself a favor. It’s not bringing to you the things that you actually need in the world into which you’re going to progress.

    It’s well worth reading in its entirety.

    Yes it is! I was so sorry to hear of his passing this morning. I read this article when it came out last month. I’m still missing Charles Krauthammer!

    • #4
  5. Manny Coolidge
    Manny
    @Manny

    ShaunaHunt (View Comment):

    Manny (View Comment):

    Over at Imaginative Conservative they have the text from Sir Roger’s final speech titled, “A Thing Called Civilization.” A couple of quotes:

    Now, I myself have obviously got into an awful lot of trouble through defending Western civilization. It seems a strange feature of our times that the more you’re disposed to defend it, the more you are regarded as some kind of narrow-minded bigot. But the people who make that accusation are the real ones with the narrow mind. They’re people who do not see exactly how large and comprehensive our civilization has been and still is.

    And

    And I feel that now is the time, through institutions like ISI especially, to bring courage and conviction again to young people who know that there’s something wrong with this activist witch hunting of the old curriculum. The time has come, it seems to me, for people like me and the older generation of teachers to give courage to young people, to say: Look, you have a civilization and inheritance which helps you to understand these things. Giving way to activism of this kind, activism which excludes whole realms of human knowledge, is not doing yourself a favor. It’s not bringing to you the things that you actually need in the world into which you’re going to progress.

    It’s well worth reading in its entirety.

    Yes it is! I was so sorry to hear of his passing this morning. I read this article when it came out last month. I’m still missing Charles Krauthammer!

    Nice to see you back Shauna.  

    • #5
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