---
title: "1 Wasteland Quotes By Russell Kirk"
description: "1 Wasteland quotes by Russell Kirk. Plus more from Russell Kirk and more Wasteland sayings from other authors."
image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c7c/russell-kirk-6909_arrogant_even-the-wisest-of-mankind-cannot-live-b_1967891.jpg"
---

> [Even the wisest of mankind cannot live by reason alone; pure arrogant reason, denying the claims of prejudice (which commonly are also the claims of conscience), leads to a wasteland of withered hopes and crying loneliness, empty of God and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/russell-kirk/even-the-wisest-of-mankind-cannot-live-by-reason-alone-pure-arrogant/)

[Russell Kirk](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/russell-kirk/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c7c/russell-kirk-6909_arrogant_even-the-wisest-of-mankind-cannot-live-b_1967891.jpg)

## More by Russell Kirk

> [“Only portions of the globe still enslaved by the enemies of the people refrained from congratulating President Zingu and Premier Villiers-Kolama upon the astounding…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/russell-kirk/only-portions-of-the-globe-still-enslaved-by-the-enemies-of-the/)

[Russell Kirk](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/russell-kirk/)

> [“Manfredo -- Your Excellency -- how can you, even you, hope...?" "Life is a jest, and all things show it, my dear," I replied;…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/russell-kirk/manfredo-your-excellency-how-can-you-even-you-hope-life-is-a-jest-and/)

[Russell Kirk](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/russell-kirk/)

> [“Today, as in the past, we ought to remind ourselves that the true natural law is not a mere congeries of appetites, and that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/russell-kirk/today-as-in-the-past-we-ought-to-remind-ourselves-that-the-true/)

[Russell Kirk](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/russell-kirk/)

> [Moral decay first hampers and then strangles honest government, regular commerce, and even the ability to take genuine pleasure in the goods of this…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/russell-kirk/moral-decay-first-hampers-and-then-strangles-honest-government/)

[Russell Kirk](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/russell-kirk/)

> [ “Men are put into this world, he \[the enlightened conservative\] realizes, to struggle, to suffer, to contend against the evil that is in their… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/russell-kirk/men-are-put-into-this-world-he-the-enlightened-conservative-realizes/)

[Russell Kirk](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/russell-kirk/)

> [Mine was not an Enlightened mind, I now was aware: it was a Gothic mind, medieval in its temper and structure. I did not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/russell-kirk/mine-was-not-an-enlightened-mind-i-now-was-aware-it-was-a-gothic-mind/)

[Russell Kirk](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/russell-kirk/)

> [Humility, which Burke ranked high among the virtues, is the only effectual restraint upon this congenital vanity; yet our world has nearly forgotten the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/russell-kirk/humility-which-burke-ranked-high-among-the-virtues-is-the-only/)

[Russell Kirk](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/russell-kirk/)

> [Rousseau and his disciples were resolved to force men to be free; in most of the world, they triumphed; men are set free from…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/russell-kirk/rousseau-and-his-disciples-were-resolved-to-force-men-to-be-free-in/)

[Russell Kirk](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/russell-kirk/)

> [Politics moves upward into ethics, and ethics ascends to theology.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/russell-kirk/politics-moves-upward-into-ethics-and-ethics-ascends-to-theology/)

[Russell Kirk](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/russell-kirk/)

> [If men are discharged of reverence for ancient usage, they will treat this world, almost certainly, as if it were their private property, to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/russell-kirk/if-men-are-discharged-of-reverence-for-ancient-usage-they-will-treat/)

[Russell Kirk](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/russell-kirk/)

> [“The Conservative Mind describes a cast of intellect or a type of character, an inclination to cherish the permanent things in human existence. On…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/russell-kirk/the-conservative-mind-describes-a-cast-of-intellect-or-a-type-of/)

[Russell Kirk](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/russell-kirk/)

> [Privilege, in any society, is the reward of duties performed.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/russell-kirk/privilege-in-any-society-is-the-reward-of-duties-performed/)

[Russell Kirk](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/russell-kirk/)

> [“There are six canons of conservative thought: 1) Belief in a transcendent order, or body of natural law, which rules society as well as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/russell-kirk/there-are-six-canons-of-conservative-thought-1-belief-in-a/)

[Russell Kirk](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/russell-kirk/)

> [The Secular City, having legislated and litigated itself out of any entanglement with the City of God, would be a hell upon earth .](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/russell-kirk/the-secular-city-having-legislated-and-litigated-itself-out-of-any/)

[Russell Kirk](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/russell-kirk/)

> [Why do we not exhaust the heritage of the ages, spiritual and material for our immediate pleasure, and let posterity go hang? So far…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/russell-kirk/why-do-we-not-exhaust-the-heritage-of-the-ages-spiritual-and-material/)

[Russell Kirk](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/russell-kirk/)

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