--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: America is conservative in fundamental…" description: "\"America is conservative in fundamental principles... but the principles conserved are liberal and some, indeed, are radical.\" — Gunnar Myrdal" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/463/gunnar-myrdal-25477_america_america-is-conservative-in-fundamental-p_1348383.jpg" --- # America is conservative in fundamental principles... but… ![“America is conservative in fundamental principles... but the principles conserved are liberal and some, indeed, are radical.” quote by Gunnar Myrdal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/463/gunnar-myrdal-25477_america_america-is-conservative-in-fundamental-p_1348383.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/463/gunnar-myrdal-25477_america_america-is-conservative-in-fundamental-p_1348383.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/463/gunnar-myrdal-25477_america_america-is-conservative-in-fundamental-p_1348383.jpg) > “America is conservative in fundamental principles... but the principles conserved are liberal and some, indeed, are radical.” [Gunnar Myrdal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gunnar-myrdal/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The quote suggests that while American core values are traditionally conservative, the ideas they preserve tend to be progressive, sometimes even radical. **In simple terms:** Conservative foundations can protect liberal ideas. Key Takeaway Recognize that tradition can house change. Themes tradition politics ideology change paradox Mood reflective analytical Type philosophical political When to use this quote - policy debates - social movements - education reforms - community organizing - political campaigns Key Concepts conservatism liberalism radicalism cultural evolution Questions to Reflect On - How can societies balance preserving core values while embracing progressive change? - What examples show tradition fostering radical ideas? A Different Perspective The tension may oversimplify complex political spectra. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [America](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/america/) [America Conservative](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/america-conservative-771528/) [Conservative](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/conservative/) [Conservative Fundamental](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/conservative-fundamental-4577076/) [Conserved Liberal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/conserved-liberal-4577075/) [Fundamental principles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fundamental-principles/) [Fundamentals](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fundamentals/) [Principles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/principles/) [Principles Conserved](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/principles-conserved-4577077/) [Radical](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/radical/) ## Related quotes > [There's not a liberal America and a conservative America - there's the United States of America.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barack-obama/there-s-not-a-liberal-america-and-a-conservative-america-there-s-the/) [Barack Obama](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barack-obama/) > [Middle America conservative community... I was not around any gay people, especially not gay women.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gabby-windey/middle-america-conservative-community-i-was-not-around-any-gay-people/) [Gabby Windey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gabby-windey/) > [I'm like most people in America. I'm conservative on some things, and I'm liberal on other things.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carlos-mencia/i-m-like-most-people-in-america-i-m-conservative-on-some-things-and-i/) [Carlos Mencia](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carlos-mencia/) > [America is a conservative country with a small "c" - they want change, but they don't want too much change too fast.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/howard-dean/america-is-a-conservative-country-with-a-small-c-they-want-change-but/) [Howard Dean](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/howard-dean/) > [White men are hated in America because most are conservative Christians, like those who founded and built our great country.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jesse-lee-peterson/white-men-are-hated-in-america-because-most-are-conservative/) [Jesse Lee Peterson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jesse-lee-peterson/) > [The people's love of pumpkin spice and snobbish elites' derision of it suggest a subtle political reality: the pumpkin spice latte is America's most…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-j-knowles/the-people-s-love-of-pumpkin-spice-and-snobbish-elites-derision-of-it/) [Michael J. Knowles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-j-knowles/) > [There is not a liberal America and a conservative America - there is the United States of America. There is not a black America…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barack-obama/there-is-not-a-liberal-america-and-a-conservative-america-there-is/) [Barack Obama](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barack-obama/) > [America is very conservative. It is not a very modern country. If you look at the population, they are very serious, very nice, very…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/luigi-colani/america-is-very-conservative-it-is-not-a-very-modern-country-if-you/) [Luigi Colani](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/luigi-colani/) > [Our only hope for America is that every conservative takes upon him or herself the project of learning what American and conservative values are,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dennis-prager/our-only-hope-for-america-is-that-every-conservative-takes-upon-him/) [Dennis Prager](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dennis-prager/) > [“I grew up in Germany. Europe is far more liberal than America. Even most conservative right-wing parties over there are to the left of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oliver-markus-malloy/i-grew-up-in-germany-europe-is-far-more-liberal-than-america-even/) [Oliver Markus Malloy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oliver-markus-malloy/) > [There is a fundamental principle. People have the right to defend their country from foreign occupiers, and people have the right to defend their…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/norman-finkelstein/there-is-a-fundamental-principle-people-have-the-right-to-defend/) [Norman Finkelstein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/norman-finkelstein/) > [In Oceania at the present day, Science, in the old sense, has almost ceased to exist. In Newspeak there is no word for 'Science.'…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-orwell/in-oceania-at-the-present-day-science-in-the-old-sense-has-almost/) [George Orwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-orwell/) > [Kantian ethical theory distinguishes three levels: First, that of a fundamental principle (the categorical imperative, formulated in three main ways in Kant's Groundwork); second,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/allen-w-wood/kantian-ethical-theory-distinguishes-three-levels-first-that-of-a/) [Allen W. Wood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/allen-w-wood/) > [The Fundamental Principle that governs - or ought to govern -human affairs if we wish to avoid misunderstandings, conflicts, or pointless utopias, is negotiation.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/umberto-eco/the-fundamental-principle-that-governs-or-ought-to-govern-human/) [Umberto Eco](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/umberto-eco/) > [ The fundamental principle \[of settlement work\] remains: that people shall take up their residence in industrial communities, giving what they may have of public… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lillian-wald/the-fundamental-principle-of-settlement-work-remains-that-people/) [Lillian Wald](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lillian-wald/) ## More by Gunnar Myrdal > [As a forecaster, Marx shared the common destiny of all prophets: to be belied by events.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gunnar-myrdal/as-a-forecaster-marx-shared-the-common-destiny-of-all-prophets-to-be/) [Gunnar Myrdal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gunnar-myrdal/) > [In most circles, the idea of economic planning has been in disrepute most of the time and, particularly in America, has almost carried connotations…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gunnar-myrdal/in-most-circles-the-idea-of-economic-planning-has-been-in-disrepute/) [Gunnar Myrdal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gunnar-myrdal/) > [The short-term international capital market is shrunken and erratic, and cannot be relied upon to cushion the effects of tendencies to disequilibrium in the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gunnar-myrdal/the-short-term-international-capital-market-is-shrunken-and-erratic/) [Gunnar Myrdal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gunnar-myrdal/) > [So many social changes are as irreversible as the reaction when sodium is thrown into water.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gunnar-myrdal/so-many-social-changes-are-as-irreversible-as-the-reaction-when/) [Gunnar Myrdal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gunnar-myrdal/) > [Language, as we know, is full of illogicalities.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gunnar-myrdal/language-as-we-know-is-full-of-illogicalities/) [Gunnar Myrdal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gunnar-myrdal/) > [All sudden and violent changes, whatever their causes or character, must tend to decrease the respect for status quo as a natural order of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gunnar-myrdal/all-sudden-and-violent-changes-whatever-their-causes-or-character/) [Gunnar Myrdal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gunnar-myrdal/) > [America has had gifted conservative statesmen and national leaders. But with few exceptions, only the liberals have gone down in history as national heroes.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gunnar-myrdal/america-has-had-gifted-conservative-statesmen-and-national-leaders/) [Gunnar Myrdal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gunnar-myrdal/) > [The big majority of Americans, who are comparatively well-off, have developed an ability to have enclaves of people living in the greatest misery almost…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gunnar-myrdal/the-big-majority-of-americans-who-are-comparatively-well-off-have/) [Gunnar Myrdal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gunnar-myrdal/) > [It is natural for the ordinary American when he sees something wrong to feel not only that there should be a law against it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gunnar-myrdal/it-is-natural-for-the-ordinary-american-when-he-sees-something-wrong/) [Gunnar Myrdal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gunnar-myrdal/) > [Generally speaking, the less privileged groups in democratic society, as they become aware of their interests and their political power, will be found to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gunnar-myrdal/generally-speaking-the-less-privileged-groups-in-democratic-society/) [Gunnar Myrdal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gunnar-myrdal/) > [It is no accident that the Victorian age, the heyday of conventionalism, was the cultural bloom of economic liberalism.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gunnar-myrdal/it-is-no-accident-that-the-victorian-age-the-heyday-of/) [Gunnar Myrdal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gunnar-myrdal/) > [Rent control has in certain Western countries constituted, maybe, the worst example of poor planning by Governments lacking courage and vision.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gunnar-myrdal/rent-control-has-in-certain-western-countries-constituted-maybe-the/) [Gunnar Myrdal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gunnar-myrdal/) > [It Is in the Agricultural Sector That the Battle for Long- Term Economic Development Will Be Won or Lost.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gunnar-myrdal/it-is-in-the-agricultural-sector-that-the-battle-for-long-term/) [Gunnar Myrdal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gunnar-myrdal/) > [Social taboos are shy like virtue; once lost, there is no remedy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gunnar-myrdal/social-taboos-are-shy-like-virtue-once-lost-there-is-no-remedy/) [Gunnar Myrdal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gunnar-myrdal/) > [The study of women's intelligence and personality has had broadly the same history as the one we record for Negroes ... in drawing a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gunnar-myrdal/the-study-of-women-s-intelligence-and-personality-has-had-broadly-the/) [Gunnar Myrdal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gunnar-myrdal/) [Explore all 23 Gunnar Myrdal quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gunnar-myrdal/) ## More America quotes > [The costs of the Bush-Obama wars in Iraq and Afghanistan are now estimated to run as high as $4.4 trillion - a major victory…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/noam-chomsky/the-costs-of-the-bush-obama-wars-in-iraq-and-afghanistan-are-now/) [Noam Chomsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/noam-chomsky/) > [Young men, especially in America, write to me and ask me to recommend “a course of reading.” Distrust a course of reading! People who…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrew-lang/young-men-especially-in-america-write-to-me-and-ask-me-to-recommend-a/) [Andrew Lang](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrew-lang/) > [Well, The Day the Earth Caught Fire was a story... I don't if anybody knows what it is but it was about... in the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/val-guest/well-the-day-the-earth-caught-fire-was-a-story-i-don-t-if-anybody/) [Val Guest](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/val-guest/) > [So here's what I want you to know, and here's what I want all our men and women in uniform to know: Because of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barack-obama/so-here-s-what-i-want-you-to-know-and-here-s-what-i-want-all-our-men/) [Barack Obama](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barack-obama/) > [Today, the world looks to America for leadership. And America looks to its Corps of Marines.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ronald-reagan/today-the-world-looks-to-america-for-leadership-and-america-looks-to/) [Ronald Reagan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ronald-reagan/) > [The image of blacks usually is one of people who are suffering from hunger, unemployment, and poverty. The idea of them as agents and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/grace-lee-boggs/the-image-of-blacks-usually-is-one-of-people-who-are-suffering-from/) [Grace Lee Boggs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/grace-lee-boggs/) > [ I'll smoke, I'll cough, I'll get the tumors, I'll die, deal? Thank you America. \[salutes\] ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-hicks/i-ll-smoke-i-ll-cough-i-ll-get-the-tumors-i-ll-die-deal-thank-you/) [Bill Hicks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-hicks/) > [America is a democracy and has no Hitler, but I am afraid for her future; there are hard times ahead for the American people,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/albert-einstein/america-is-a-democracy-and-has-no-hitler-but-i-am-afraid-for-her/) [Albert Einstein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/albert-einstein/) > [I'm gonna bring America together.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donald-trump/i-m-gonna-bring-america-together/) [Donald Trump](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/donald-trump/) > [In the nineteenth century some parts of the world were unexplored, but there was almost no restriction on travel.:; Up to 1914 you did…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-orwell/in-the-nineteenth-century-some-parts-of-the-world-were-unexplored-but/) [George Orwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-orwell/) > [We need a system that serves our needs, not the needs of others. 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