--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Liberalism is essentially the belief that…" description: "\"Liberalism is essentially the belief that there can be a reconciliation of all difficulties and differences, and since there can't, it is a misleading ..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/698/maurice-cowling-58098_approach_liberalism-is-essentially-the-belief-tha_2804297.jpg" --- # Liberalism is essentially the belief that there can be a… ![“Liberalism is essentially the belief that there can be a reconciliation of all difficulties and differences, and since there can't, it is a misleading way to approach politics.” quote by Maurice Cowling](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/698/maurice-cowling-58098_approach_liberalism-is-essentially-the-belief-tha_2804297.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/698/maurice-cowling-58098_approach_liberalism-is-essentially-the-belief-tha_2804297.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/698/maurice-cowling-58098_approach_liberalism-is-essentially-the-belief-tha_2804297.jpg) > “Liberalism is essentially the belief that there can be a reconciliation of all difficulties and differences, and since there can't, it is a misleading way to approach politics.” [Maurice Cowling](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maurice-cowling/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Liberalism claims it can reconcile all differences, but its idealism is unrealistic in politics. **In simple terms:** Liberalism’s idealism is flawed. Key Takeaway Question political idealism. Themes politics ideology idealism Mood skeptical critical Type philosophical analytical When to use this quote - policy debates - campaign strategy - public discourse Key Concepts liberalism reconciliation misdirection Questions to Reflect On - Is compromise always possible? - What alternatives to liberalism exist? A Different Perspective Idealistic approaches may ignore practical constraints. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Approach](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/approach/) [Approach Politics](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/approach-politics-457821/) [Belief](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/belief/) [Differences](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/differences/) [Difficulty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/difficulty/) [Essentially Belief](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/essentially-belief-3471927/) [Europe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/europe/) [Faith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/faith/) [Liberalism](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/liberalism/) [Liberalism Essentially](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/liberalism-essentially-3471926/) [Mislead](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mislead/) [Misleading Way](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/misleading-way-3471928/) [Politics](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/politics/) [Reconciliation](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/reconciliation/) [Way](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/way/) ## Related quotes > [It has always been a central plank of Donald Trump's approach to politics to make us doubt what the media tell us and, more…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jessica-tarlov/it-has-always-been-a-central-plank-of-donald-trump-s-approach-to/) [Jessica Tarlov](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jessica-tarlov/) > [“set myself the task of starting with a blank sheet of paper and asking not what it means to be a “conservative” or a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-l-friedman/set-myself-the-task-of-starting-with-a-blank-sheet-of-paper-and/) [Thomas L. Friedman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-l-friedman/) > [My approach to politics is very serious. It must be handled by great people with extraordinary skills and human qualities. I feel I don't…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/balachandra-menon/my-approach-to-politics-is-very-serious-it-must-be-handled-by-great/) [Balachandra Menon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/balachandra-menon/) > [“I suggested that a better understanding of human nature in the light of modern science can point the way to an approach to politics…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steven-pinker/i-suggested-that-a-better-understanding-of-human-nature-in-the-light/) [Steven Pinker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steven-pinker/) > [The idea of self-reliance is important to me, and that is echoed, in my way of thinking, by a conservative approach to politics.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kelsey-grammer/the-idea-of-self-reliance-is-important-to-me-and-that-is-echoed-in-my/) [Kelsey Grammer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kelsey-grammer/) > [My approach to politics is that I'm not a Democrat or a Republican. I'm an American and I always support candidates I think are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marc-benioff/my-approach-to-politics-is-that-i-m-not-a-democrat-or-a-republican-i/) [Marc Benioff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marc-benioff/) > [The only way you approach politics and seek elective office is to move forward. For me to look back in anger or with any…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-mccain/the-only-way-you-approach-politics-and-seek-elective-office-is-to/) [John McCain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-mccain/) > [Experience must be our only guide. Reason may mislead us.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-dickinson/experience-must-be-our-only-guide-reason-may-mislead-us/) [John Dickinson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-dickinson/) > [Everyone loves his own country, customs, language, wife, children, not because they are the best in the world, but because they are his established…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/johann-gottfried-herder/everyone-loves-his-own-country-customs-language-wife-children-not/) [Johann Gottfried Herder](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/johann-gottfried-herder/) > [Nothing misleads people like the truth.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/josh-brolin/nothing-misleads-people-like-the-truth/) [Josh Brolin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/josh-brolin/) > [It is often falsely assumed, even by feminists, that sexuality is the enemy of the female who really wants to develop these aspects of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/germaine-greer/it-is-often-falsely-assumed-even-by-feminists-that-sexuality-is-the/) [Germaine Greer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/germaine-greer/) > [We must start with scientific fundamentals, and that means with the data of experiments and not with assumed axioms predicated only upon the misleading…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/r-buckminster-fuller/we-must-start-with-scientific-fundamentals-and-that-means-with-the/) [R. Buckminster Fuller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/r-buckminster-fuller/) > [If I had to choose between the two ways of approaching the deity, I should prefer the existential relational way, to the abstract philosophical…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frank-moore-cross/if-i-had-to-choose-between-the-two-ways-of-approaching-the-deity-i/) [Frank Moore Cross](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frank-moore-cross/) > [I earn my living by teaching film, mostly filmmaking but also teaching courses on current cinema. I'm interested in movies. I hope that's not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thom-andersen/i-earn-my-living-by-teaching-film-mostly-filmmaking-but-also-teaching/) [Thom Andersen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thom-andersen/) > [One of the worst things to come out of the Consumer Protection Board's misleading claims is the impression that government resources are to hard…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matthew-lesko/one-of-the-worst-things-to-come-out-of-the-consumer-protection-board/) [Matthew Lesko](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matthew-lesko/) ## More by Maurice Cowling > [From Britain's point of view the 1939 war had been a liberal war which had been entered into in a condition of moral indignation…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maurice-cowling/from-britain-s-point-of-view-the-1939-war-had-been-a-liberal-war/) [Maurice Cowling](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maurice-cowling/) > [I've read The Satanic Verses and I thought it a nasty, sneering, free-thinking book... I can understand why the book is offensive and it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maurice-cowling/i-ve-read-the-satanic-verses-and-i-thought-it-a-nasty-sneering-free/) [Maurice Cowling](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maurice-cowling/) > [It seemed to me singularly ill-contrived for the British government to be going to war with Hitler when Hitler might have been about to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maurice-cowling/it-seemed-to-me-singularly-ill-contrived-for-the-british-government/) [Maurice Cowling](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maurice-cowling/) > [If there is a class war - and there is - it is important that it should be handled with subtlety and skill. ...…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maurice-cowling/if-there-is-a-class-war-and-there-is-it-is-important-that-it-should/) [Maurice Cowling](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maurice-cowling/) > [I'm an intellectual Thatcherite, just as I was an intellectual Powellite, and I think it important that the Conservative party should be in good…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maurice-cowling/i-m-an-intellectual-thatcherite-just-as-i-was-an-intellectual/) [Maurice Cowling](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maurice-cowling/) [Explore all 6 Maurice Cowling quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maurice-cowling/) ## More Approach quotes > [I think a new world will arise out of the religious mists when we approach our Bible with the idea that it is not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aiden-wilson-tozer/i-think-a-new-world-will-arise-out-of-the-religious-mists-when-we/) [Aiden Wilson Tozer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aiden-wilson-tozer/) > [I'm in a business where there's complete anarchy. You can't control it - you can only react to it. The control that people traditionally…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-sorrell/i-m-in-a-business-where-there-s-complete-anarchy-you-can-t-control-it/) [Martin Sorrell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-sorrell/) > [When you approach something to photograph it, first be still with yourself until the object of your attention affirms your presence. Then don't leave…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/minor-white/when-you-approach-something-to-photograph-it-first-be-still-with/) [Minor White](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/minor-white/) > [We do not want to be reminded that it is we, the indigenous people, who are poor and exploited in the land of our…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steven-biko/we-do-not-want-to-be-reminded-that-it-is-we-the-indigenous-people-who/) [Steven Biko](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steven-biko/) > [One of the things I regret about not putting in that book or I think it's there but I didn't really elaborate on it,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brad-warner/one-of-the-things-i-regret-about-not-putting-in-that-book-or-i-think/) [Brad Warner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brad-warner/) > [Ideal for the child and society in the best of times, Rudolf Steiner's brilliant process of education is critically needed and profoundly relevant now…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-chilton-pearce/ideal-for-the-child-and-society-in-the-best-of-times-rudolf-steiner-s/) [Joseph Chilton Pearce](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-chilton-pearce/) > [I don't have any particular method, my approach is very simple. I try to understand the emotional graph of the character.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pratik-gandhi/i-don-t-have-any-particular-method-my-approach-is-very-simple-i-try/) [Pratik Gandhi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pratik-gandhi/) > [“But young men have not only this frivolous ambition of being thought masters of execution, inciting them on the one hand, but also their…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/but-young-men-have-not-only-this-frivolous-ambition-of-being-thought/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Everything, every part that you approach has to be somehow rooted in yourself. You have to somehow root everything so that it's not just…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/judi-dench/everything-every-part-that-you-approach-has-to-be-somehow-rooted-in/) [Judi Dench](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/judi-dench/) > [Literature transforms and intensifies ordinary language, deviates systematically from everyday speech. If you approach me at a bus stop and murmur Thou still unravished…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terry-eagleton/literature-transforms-and-intensifies-ordinary-language-deviates/) [Terry Eagleton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terry-eagleton/) > [The whole secret to mastering the game of golf - and this applies to the beginner as well as the pro - is to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arnold-palmer/the-whole-secret-to-mastering-the-game-of-golf-and-this-applies-to/) [Arnold Palmer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arnold-palmer/) > [The essence of Christianity...is an ever-new encounter with... the God who speaks to us, who approaches us and who befriends us!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pope-benedict-xvi/the-essence-of-christianity-is-an-ever-new-encounter-with-the-god-who/) [Pope Benedict XVI](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pope-benedict-xvi/) > [Like a morning dream, life becomes more and more bright the longer we live, and the reason of everything appears more clear. What has…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-paul/like-a-morning-dream-life-becomes-more-and-more-bright-the-longer-we/) [Jean Paul](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-paul/) > [What begins as a Utopian vision, always - always - ends in bloodshed. Because you have to force a utopia on a free people.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/greg-gutfeld/what-begins-as-a-utopian-vision-always-always-ends-in-bloodshed/) [Greg Gutfeld](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/greg-gutfeld/) > [The only two good words that can be said for a hurricane are that it gives sufficient warning of its approach, and that it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gertrude-atherton/the-only-two-good-words-that-can-be-said-for-a-hurricane-are-that-it/) [Gertrude Atherton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gertrude-atherton/) [Browse all 3,949 Approach quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/approach/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Liberalism is essentially the belief that there can be a reconciliation of all difficulties and differences, and since there can't, it is a misleading way to approach politics.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Maurice Cowling" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maurice-cowling/liberalism-is-essentially-the-belief-that-there-can-be-a/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Approach" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maurice-cowling/liberalism-is-essentially-the-belief-that-there-can-be-a/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/698/maurice-cowling-58098_approach_liberalism-is-essentially-the-belief-tha_2804297.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/698/maurice-cowling-58098_approach_liberalism-is-essentially-the-belief-tha_2804297.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/698/maurice-cowling-58098_approach_liberalism-is-essentially-the-belief-tha_2804297.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Liberalism is essentially the belief that there can be a reconciliation of all difficulties and differences…” — Maurice Cowling", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Maurice Cowling", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maurice-cowling/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "Liberalism is essentially the belief that...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maurice-cowling/liberalism-is-essentially-the-belief-that-there-can-be-a/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maurice-cowling/liberalism-is-essentially-the-belief-that-there-can-be-a/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```