The sexual parts are not only vivid examples of the body's dominion; they are also apertures whose damp emissions and ammoniac smells testify to the mysterious putrefaction of the body.
Roger ScrutonWhen gifts are replaced by rights, so is gratitude replaced by claims. And claims breed resentment
Roger ScrutonStates are more like people than they are like anything else: they exist by purpose, reason, suffering, and joy. And peace between states is also like peace between people. It involves the willing renunciation of purpose, in the mutual desire not to do, but to be.
Roger ScrutonBeing unpopular is never easy; but being unpopular in a good cause is a shield against despair.
Roger ScrutonThere is a crucial distinction to be made between innovation and originality. The second, unlike the first, can never break with what preceded it: to be original, an artist must also belong to the tradition from which he departs. To put it another way, he must violate the expectations of his audience, but he must also, in countless ways, uphold and endorse them.
Roger Scruton