William F. Buckley Short Quotes

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Every day, in every way, things are getting worse and worse.

William F. Buckley, Jr.
Everything I do and say and the way I do and say it annoys me.

William F. Buckley, Jr.
The best defense against usurpatory government is an assertive citizenry.

William F. Buckley, Jr.
Idealism is fine, but as it approaches reality, the costs become prohibitive.

William F. Buckley, Jr.
Idealism is fine; but as it approaches reality, the cost becomes prohibitive.

William F. Buckley, Jr.
Only government can cause inflation, preserve monopoly, and punish enterprise.

William F. Buckley, Jr.
You cannot paint the Mona Lisa by assigning one dab each to a thousand painters.

William F. Buckley, Jr.
Socialize the individual's surplus and you socialize his spirit and creativeness....

William F. Buckley, Jr.
Government can't do anything for you except in proportion as it can do something to you.

William F. Buckley, Jr.
Conservatives should be adamant about the need for the reappearance of Judeo-Christianity in the public square.

William F. Buckley, Jr.
Now listen, you queer, stop calling me a crypto-Nazi, or I'll sock you in your goddamn face and you'll stay plastered.

William F. Buckley, Jr.
I've always subconsciously looked out for the total Christian and when I found him he turned out to be a non-practicing Jew.

William F. Buckley, Jr.
If you had a European prime minister who experienced what we've experienced it would be expected that he would retire or resign.

William F. Buckley, Jr.
I grew up, as reported, in a large family of Catholics without even a decent ration of tentativeness among the lot of us about our religious faith.

William F. Buckley, Jr.
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.
National Review... stands athwart history, yelling Stop, at a time when no one is inclined to do so, or to have much patience with those who so urge it.

William F. Buckley, Jr.
A conservative is someone who stands athwart history, yelling Stop, at a time when no one is inclined to do so, or to have much patience with those who so urge it.

William F. Buckley, Jr.
I get satisfaction of three kinds. One is creating something, one is being paid for it and one is the feeling that I haven't just been sitting on my ass all afternoon.

William F. Buckley, Jr.
The superstition that the hounds of truth will rout the vermin of error seems, like a fragment of Victorian lace, quaint, but too brittle to be lifted out of the showcase.

William F. Buckley, Jr.
The duel between Christianity and atheism is the most important in the world, and the struggle between individualism and collectivism is the same struggle reproduced on another level.

William F. Buckley, Jr.
The most casual student of history knows that, as a matter of fact, truth does not necessarily vanquish. … The cause of truth must be championed, and it must be championed dynamically.

William F. Buckley, Jr.