One of the questions that has most bothered me in my reflections on culture is the question of kitsch. Just what is it? When did it begin? And why?
Roger ScrutonRead
My father was a man of principle who found his principles confirmed in the unremitting failure which they brought on him.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote reflects on the conflict between adhering to one's principles and facing the negative consequences that may arise from them.
In this quote, Roger Scruton reflects on the life of his father, emphasizing the dedication to principles despite the personal failures and hardships that accompanied this steadfastness. It highlights the complex relationship between integrity and the struggles one may endure when upholding their values, suggesting that being principled does not always lead to success but can instead lead to unrelenting challenges.
Themes
PrincipleFailureIntegrityValuesStruggle
In practice
Example use cases
This quote can be used in a speech about the importance of staying true to one's values in the face of adversity.
More from Roger Scruton
All quotes →There are big questions science doesn't answer, such as why is there something rather than nothing? There can't be a scientific answer to that because it's the answer that precedes science.
Roger ScrutonRead
18th century opera is packed with emotion, but contains not a trace of kitsch. Only with the 'thees' and 'thous' of Victorian poetry does the disease begin to grow in our poetic tradition.
Roger ScrutonRead
The robust English view used to be that the correct response to offensive words is to ignore them, or to answer them with a rebuke. If you invoke the law at all, it should be to protect the one who gives the offence, and not the one who takes it. Now, it seems, it is all the other way round.
Roger ScrutonRead
For two centuries the English countryside has been an icon of national identity and the loved reminder of our island home. Yet the government is bent on littering the hills with wind turbines and the valleys with high speed railways.
Roger ScrutonRead
You cannot own a symphony or a novel in the way you can own a Damien Hirst. As a result there are far fewer fake symphonies or fake novels than there are fake works of visual art.
Roger ScrutonRead
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