I preach that odd defiant melancholy that sees the dreadful loneliness of the human soul and the pitiful disaster of human life as ever redeemable and redeemed by compassion, friendship and love. — John Derbyshire Copy Share Image
Wherever there is a jackboot stomping on a human face there will be a well-heeled Western liberal to explain that the face does, after… — John Derbyshire Copy Share Image
Conservatism is pessimistic, with a negative tendency - which we mostly resist - towards despair. Liberals are optimists, with a negative tendency, rarely resisted,… — John Derbyshire Copy Share Image
Nonmathematical people sometimes ask me, “You know math, huh? Tell me something I’ve always wondered, What is infinity divided by infinity?” I can only reply, “The words you just uttered do not make sense. That was not a mathematical sentence. You spoke of ‘infinity’ as if it were a number. It’s not. You may as well ask, 'What is truth… — John Derbyshire Copy Share
“The arts and humanities are not mere entertainment, to be turned to for relaxation after a busy day spent solving differential equations; they are our templates for living, for governing ourselves and our societies. Nor can science offer any help with the knottier problems besetting the human race. It can remedy bad smells, bad pains, and bad roads, but not… — John Derbyshire Copy Share
Biophobia is as much a part of a politician's basic equipment as a sharp suit. — John Derbyshire Copy Share Image
In matters editorial, I am a believer in totalitarian despotism. Most writers are lazy, difficult, selfish, thoughtless, and unreliable. — John Derbyshire Copy Share Image
“Ninety percent of paid work is time-wasting crap. The world gets by on the other ten.” — John Derbyshire Copy Share Image
The job of conservatives is to keep the Republican Party driving on the right-hand side of the road. There are many ways we do this. We argue, we publish, we lobby, we campaign for conservative candidates. Another thing we do is, when the GOP goes off the rails on really key issues - size of government, the National Question, Wilsonian… — John Derbyshire Copy Share
Education is a vast sea of lies, waste, corruption, crackpot theorizing, and careerist log-rolling. — John Derbyshire Copy Share Image
“A very civilized thing, glass—almost an index of civilization. When civilization retreats, it leaves behind broken glass.” — John Derbyshire Copy Share Image
