A quote recently caught my attention, but as I had never heard of its author, so I hopped over to Wikipedia. The author in question was Nicolás Gómez Dávila, (1913-1994) a Columbian reactionary who spent most of his life in his extensive library, and only released his publications in small batches as gifts to his friends; hence his obscurity.
Before the quote itself, let me share some snippets about his life and philosophy:
“He was taught by private teachers and developed a lifelong love of classical literature. He never, however, attended a university.”
Smart man. I like him already.
“In (his early) essays, he first voices his intention to create a “reactionary patchwork” because reality, he said, cannot be represented in a philosophical system.”
An admonishment to those of us on the new right to not get too attached to philosophical or ideological purity? Food for thought.
“His skeptical anthropology was based on a close study of Thucydides and Jacob Burckhardt as well as his affirmation of hierarchical structures of order on society, state and church. Gómez Dávila emphatically criticised the concept of the sovereignty of the people as an illegitimate divinisation of man and a rejection of the sovereignty of God. He was likewise deeply critical of the Second Vatican Council which he saw as a deeply problematical adaptation to the world.”
Yes.
“The modern ideologies such as liberalism, democracy, and socialism, are the main targets of Gómez Dávila’s criticism, because the world influenced by these ideologies appeared to him decadent and corrupt.”
Hallelujah.
“He criticized modernity and saw his work as that of a partisan for a “truth that will not die”.
Wikipedia just defined the alt-right.
I enjoy opening new doors into the world. My world just got a little bigger. The quote which sparked my interest:
“Violence is not necessary to destroy a civilisation. Each civilisation dies from indifference toward the unique values which created it.”
XYZ Quote of the Day.