--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: The democrat is a young conservative; the…" description: "\"The democrat is a young conservative; the conservative is an old democrat. The aristocrat is the democrat ripe, and gone to seed,--because both parties..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/285/ralph-waldo-emerson-6_aristocrat_the-democrat-is-a-young-conservative-the_1584531.png" --- # The democrat is a young conservative; the conservative is… ![“The democrat is a young conservative; the conservative is an old democrat. The aristocrat is the democrat ripe, and gone to seed,--because both parties stand on the one ground of the supreme value of property, which one endeavors to get, and the other to keep.” quote by Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/285/ralph-waldo-emerson-6_aristocrat_the-democrat-is-a-young-conservative-the_1584531.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/285/ralph-waldo-emerson-6_aristocrat_the-democrat-is-a-young-conservative-the_1584531.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/285/ralph-waldo-emerson-6_aristocrat_the-democrat-is-a-young-conservative-the_1584531.png) > “The democrat is a young conservative; the conservative is an old democrat. The aristocrat is the democrat ripe, and gone to seed,--because both parties stand on the one ground of the supreme value of property, which one endeavors to get, and the other to keep.” [Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Political labels shift over time, but underlying motives revolve around property and power dynamics. **In simple terms:** Political labels change, but property and power stay constant. Key Takeaway Question motives behind politics. Themes politics class property Mood critical analytical Type philosophical political When to use this quote - political activism - economic reform - education campaigns Key Concepts Historical analysis policy critique social theory Questions to Reflect On - How do property interests shape policy? - Can politics transcend material concerns? A Different Perspective Overemphasis on property can ignore social welfare. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Conservative](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/conservative/) [Democrat](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/democrat/) [Endeavor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/endeavor/) [Party](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/party/) [Politics](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/politics/) [Property](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/property/) [Values](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/values/) ## Related quotes > [The aristocrat is the democrat ripe, and gone to seed.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/the-aristocrat-is-the-democrat-ripe-and-gone-to-seed/) [Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/) > [Oh for someone with a heart, head and hand. Whatever they call them, what do I care, aristocrat, democrat, autocrat, just be it one…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alfred-lord-tennyson/oh-for-someone-with-a-heart-head-and-hand-whatever-they-call-them/) [Alfred Lord Tennyson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alfred-lord-tennyson/) > [I have alternately been called an Aristocrat and a Democrat. I am neither. I am a Christocrat.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/benjamin-rush/i-have-alternately-been-called-an-aristocrat-and-a-democrat-i-am/) [Benjamin Rush](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/benjamin-rush/) > [If the aristocrat is only valid in fashionable circles, and not with truckmen, he will never be a leader in fashion; and if the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/if-the-aristocrat-is-only-valid-in-fashionable-circles-and-not-with/) [Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/) > [“Our 'neoconservatives' are neither new nor conservative, but old as Babylon and evil as Hell.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-abbey/our-neoconservatives-are-neither-new-nor-conservative-but-old-as-2/) [Edward Abbey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-abbey/) > [Who is not liberal when young, does not have a heart. Who is not conservative when old, does not have a brain.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/winston-churchill/who-is-not-liberal-when-young-does-not-have-a-heart-who-is-not/) [Winston Churchill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/winston-churchill/) > [“Charles is difficult to pigeonhole politically. Tony Blair wrote that he considered him a “curious mixture of the traditional and the radical (at one…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sally-bedell-smith/charles-is-difficult-to-pigeonhole-politically-tony-blair-wrote-that/) [Sally Bedell Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sally-bedell-smith/) > [“I never dared be radical when young For fear it would make me conservative when old”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-frost/i-never-dared-be-radical-when-young-for-fear-it-would-make-me/) [Robert Frost](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-frost/) > [In a conservative old town, say something new and be prepared for the stones!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mehmet-murat-ildan/in-a-conservative-old-town-say-something-new-and-be-prepared-for-the/) [Mehmet Murat Ildan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mehmet-murat-ildan/) > [Our 'neoconservatives' are neither new nor conservative, but old as Bablyon and evil as Hell.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-abbey/our-neoconservatives-are-neither-new-nor-conservative-but-old-as/) [Edward Abbey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-abbey/) > [Joys and sorrows are time-born and cannot last. Therefore, do not be perturbed by these. The greater the difficulties and obstructions, the more intense…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anandamayi-ma/joys-and-sorrows-are-time-born-and-cannot-last-therefore-do-not-be/) [Anandamayi Ma](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anandamayi-ma/) > [Silent rushes the swift Lord Through ruined systems still restored, Broadsowing, bleak and void to bless, Plants with worlds the wilderness; Waters with tears…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/silent-rushes-the-swift-lord-through-ruined-systems-still-restored/) [Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/) > [If two or three persons should come with a high spiritual aim and with great powers, the world would fall into their hands like…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/if-two-or-three-persons-should-come-with-a-high-spiritual-aim-and/) [Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/) > [Let us draw a lesson from nature, which always works by short ways. When the fruit is ripe, it falls.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/let-us-draw-a-lesson-from-nature-which-always-works-by-short-ways/) [Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/) > [I have come to believe that the whole world is an enigma, a harmless enigma that is made terrible by our own mad attempt…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/i-have-come-to-believe-that-the-whole-world-is-an-enigma-a-harmless/) [Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/) ## More by Ralph Waldo Emerson > [The history of mankind interests us only as it exhibits a steady gain of truth and right, in the incessant conflict which it records…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/the-history-of-mankind-interests-us-only-as-it-exhibits-a-steady-gain/) [Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/) > [If we will not interfere with our thought, but will act entirely, or see how the thing stands in God, we know the particular…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/if-we-will-not-interfere-with-our-thought-but-will-act-entirely-or/) [Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/) > [If there is any period one would desire to be born in, is it not the age of Revolution; when the old and the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/if-there-is-any-period-one-would-desire-to-be-born-in-is-it-not-the/) [Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/) > [A man cannot speak but he judges himself. With his will or against his will he draws his portrait to the eye of his…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/a-man-cannot-speak-but-he-judges-himself-with-his-will-or-against-his/) [Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/) > [Consideration is the soil in which wisdom may be expected to grow, and strength be given to every up-springing plant of duty.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/consideration-is-the-soil-in-which-wisdom-may-be-expected-to-grow-and/) [Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/) > [“There is then creative reading as well as creative writing. When the mind is braced by labor and invention, the page of whatever book…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/there-is-then-creative-reading-as-well-as-creative-writing-when-the/) [Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/) > [The order of things consents to virtue.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/the-order-of-things-consents-to-virtue/) [Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/) > [Life only avails, not the having lived.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/life-only-avails-not-the-having-lived/) [Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/) > [Another success is the post-office, with its educating energy augmented by cheapness and guarded by a certain religious sentimentin mankind; so that the power…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/another-success-is-the-post-office-with-its-educating-energy/) [Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/) > [A child reminds us that playtime is an essential part of our daily routine.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/a-child-reminds-us-that-playtime-is-an-essential-part-of-our-daily/) [Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/) > [No man can be criticised but by a greater than he. Do not, then, read the reviews.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/no-man-can-be-criticised-but-by-a-greater-than-he-do-not-then-read/) [Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/) > [Coal lay in ledges under the ground since the Flood, until a laborer with pick and windlass brings it to the surface. We may…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/coal-lay-in-ledges-under-the-ground-since-the-flood-until-a-laborer/) [Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/) > [I am; therefore, I had nothing better to do than to think.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/i-am-therefore-i-had-nothing-better-to-do-than-to-think/) [Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/) > [In a library we are surrounded by many hundreds of dear friends, but they are imprisoned by an enchanter in these paper and leathern…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/in-a-library-we-are-surrounded-by-many-hundreds-of-dear-friends-but/) [Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/) > [The compensations of calamity are made apparent to the understanding also, after long intervals of time. A fever, a mutilation, a cruel disappointment, a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/the-compensations-of-calamity-are-made-apparent-to-the-understanding/) [Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/) [Explore all 4,802 Ralph Waldo Emerson quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/) ## More Aristocrat quotes > [“You can learn how to be an aristocrat by following a few rules in a very short book. There is nothing to it.” He…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/heather-o-neill/you-can-learn-how-to-be-an-aristocrat-by-following-a-few-rules-in-a/) [Heather O'Neill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/heather-o-neill/) > [“how inevitable it was that the aristocrat would refuse his final duty—which was to step aside and vanish into history.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frank-herbert/how-inevitable-it-was-that-the-aristocrat-would-refuse-his-final-duty/) [Frank Herbert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frank-herbert/) > [Unlike the majority of the writers of his age, La Rochefoucauld was an aristocrat; and this fact gives a peculiar tone to his work.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lytton-strachey/unlike-the-majority-of-the-writers-of-his-age-la-rochefoucauld-was-an/) [Lytton Strachey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lytton-strachey/) > [Every marriage tends to consist of an aristocrat and a peasant. Of a teacher and a learner.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-updike/every-marriage-tends-to-consist-of-an-aristocrat-and-a-peasant-of-a/) [John Updike](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-updike/) > [Sometimes my biography is interpreted as the upbringing of a French aristocrat. It was very, very different. We were a family of mercantile, immigrant…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alain-de-botton/sometimes-my-biography-is-interpreted-as-the-upbringing-of-a-french/) [Alain de Botton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alain-de-botton/) > [“What is the distinguishing mark of an aristocrat?' she asked him suddenly. 'Reverence,' he replied.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-goudge/what-is-the-distinguishing-mark-of-an-aristocrat-she-asked-him/) [Elizabeth Goudge](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-goudge/) > [I always use the same comparison: Ian McKellen isn't a wizard. I'm not a 19-year-old aristocrat from the 19th century. It's all made up.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicola-coughlan/i-always-use-the-same-comparison-ian-mckellen-isn-t-a-wizard-i-m-not/) [Nicola Coughlan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicola-coughlan/) > [I have alternately been called an Aristocrat and a Democrat. I am neither. I am a Christocrat.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/benjamin-rush/i-have-alternately-been-called-an-aristocrat-and-a-democrat-i-am/) [Benjamin Rush](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/benjamin-rush/) > [The aristocrat is the democrat ripe, and gone to seed.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/the-aristocrat-is-the-democrat-ripe-and-gone-to-seed/) [Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/) > [The breath of an aristocrat is the death rattle of freedom](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/georg-b-chner/the-breath-of-an-aristocrat-is-the-death-rattle-of-freedom/) [Georg Buchner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/georg-b-chner/) > [“An aristocrat? Apart from my deep hatred for birthright and primogeniture, I was aghast at my grooming misfire.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tim-rogers/an-aristocrat-apart-from-my-deep-hatred-for-birthright-and/) [Tim Rogers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tim-rogers/) > [ “\[...\] Just because a person has a title doesn't make him an aristocrat. Some people are great aristocrats who have no other title than… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/osamu-dazai/just-because-a-person-has-a-title-doesn-t-make-him-an-aristocrat-some/) [Osamu Dazai](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/osamu-dazai/) > [“She was what an aristocrat should be, porcelain and silk, unreachable, gracious, untainted by the dust of all this common death.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tanith-lee/she-was-what-an-aristocrat-should-be-porcelain-and-silk-unreachable/) [Tanith Lee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tanith-lee/) > [“He bethought him with pride that he had always been called a scholar, and sneered at for his love of solitude and books. He…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/virginia-woolf/he-bethought-him-with-pride-that-he-had-always-been-called-a-scholar/) [Virginia Woolf](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/virginia-woolf/) > [I am for poetry that is admired by peasant and aristocrat alike.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/f-sionil-jos/i-am-for-poetry-that-is-admired-by-peasant-and-aristocrat-alike/) [F. Sionil Jose](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/f-sionil-jos/) Browse all 52 Aristocrat quotes ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "The democrat is a young conservative; the conservative is an old democrat. 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