---
title: "1 Rationalist Quotes By Michael Joseph Oakeshott"
description: "1 Rationalist quotes by Michael Joseph Oakeshott. Plus more from Michael Joseph Oakeshott and more Rationalist sayings from other authors."
image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4bd/michael-joseph-oakeshott-25415_able_like-midas-the-rationalist-is-always-in_1963382.png"
---

> [Like Midas, the Rationalist is always in the unfortunate position of not being able to touch anything, without transforming it into an abstraction; he can never get a square meal of experience.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-joseph-oakeshott/like-midas-the-rationalist-is-always-in-the-unfortunate-position-of/)

[Michael Joseph Oakeshott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-joseph-oakeshott/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4bd/michael-joseph-oakeshott-25415_able_like-midas-the-rationalist-is-always-in_1963382.png)

## More by Michael Joseph Oakeshott

> [In political activity, then, men sail a boundless and bottomless sea; there is neither harbour for shelter nor floor for anchorage, neither starting-place nor…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-joseph-oakeshott/in-political-activity-then-men-sail-a-boundless-and-bottomless-sea/)

[Michael Joseph Oakeshott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-joseph-oakeshott/)

> [Education is ... the invitation to disentangle oneself, for a time, from the urgencies of the here and now and to listen to the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-joseph-oakeshott/education-is-the-invitation-to-disentangle-oneself-for-a-time-from/)

[Michael Joseph Oakeshott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-joseph-oakeshott/)

> [It is certain that most who concentrate upon achievement miss life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-joseph-oakeshott/it-is-certain-that-most-who-concentrate-upon-achievement-miss-life/)

[Michael Joseph Oakeshott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-joseph-oakeshott/)

> [A recorded past is no more than a bygone present composed of the footprints made by human beings actually going somewhere but not knowing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-joseph-oakeshott/a-recorded-past-is-no-more-than-a-bygone-present-composed-of-the/)

[Michael Joseph Oakeshott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-joseph-oakeshott/)

> [To be conservative…is to prefer the familiar to the unknown, to prefer the tried to the untried, fact to mystery, the actual to the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-joseph-oakeshott/to-be-conservative-is-to-prefer-the-familiar-to-the-unknown-to-prefer/)

[Michael Joseph Oakeshott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-joseph-oakeshott/)

> [The man of conservative temperament believes that a known good is not lightly to be surrendered for an unknown better.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-joseph-oakeshott/the-man-of-conservative-temperament-believes-that-a-known-good-is-not/)

[Michael Joseph Oakeshott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-joseph-oakeshott/)

> [The rule of law bakes no bread, it is unable to distribute loaves or fishes (it has none), and it cannot protect itself against…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-joseph-oakeshott/the-rule-of-law-bakes-no-bread-it-is-unable-to-distribute-loaves-or/)

[Michael Joseph Oakeshott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-joseph-oakeshott/)

> [The conjunction of ruling and dreaming generates tyranny.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-joseph-oakeshott/the-conjunction-of-ruling-and-dreaming-generates-tyranny/)

[Michael Joseph Oakeshott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-joseph-oakeshott/)

> [This, I believe, is the appropriate image of human intercourse -- appropriate because it recognizes the qualities, the diversities, and the proper relationships of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-joseph-oakeshott/this-i-believe-is-the-appropriate-image-of-human-intercourse/)

[Michael Joseph Oakeshott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-joseph-oakeshott/)

> [Our predicament is not the difficulty of attaining happiness, but the difficult of avoiding the misery to which the pursuit of happiness exposes us.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-joseph-oakeshott/our-predicament-is-not-the-difficulty-of-attaining-happiness-but-the/)

[Michael Joseph Oakeshott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-joseph-oakeshott/)

> [History is what the evidence compels us to believe.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-joseph-oakeshott/history-is-what-the-evidence-compels-us-to-believe/)

[Michael Joseph Oakeshott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-joseph-oakeshott/)

> [Politics I take to be the activity of attending to the general arrangements of a set of people whom chance or choice have brought…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-joseph-oakeshott/politics-i-take-to-be-the-activity-of-attending-to-the-general/)

[Michael Joseph Oakeshott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-joseph-oakeshott/)

> [Economics is not an attempt to generalize human desires or human behavior; but to generalize the phenomena of price.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-joseph-oakeshott/economics-is-not-an-attempt-to-generalize-human-desires-or-human/)

[Michael Joseph Oakeshott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-joseph-oakeshott/)

> [We consider ourselves to be free because no one in our society is allowed unlimited powerno leader, faction, party or 'class', no majority, no…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-joseph-oakeshott/we-consider-ourselves-to-be-free-because-no-one-in-our-society-is/)

[Michael Joseph Oakeshott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-joseph-oakeshott/)

> [Like Midas, the Rationalist is always in the unfortunate position of not being able to touch anything, without transforming it into an abstraction; he…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-joseph-oakeshott/like-midas-the-rationalist-is-always-in-the-unfortunate-position-of/)

[Michael Joseph Oakeshott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-joseph-oakeshott/)

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