--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: It may be inferred again that the present…" description: "\"“It may be inferred again that the present movement for women’s rights will certainly prevail from the history of its only opponent, Northern conservat..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/02d/robert-lewis-dabney-44051_american-politics_it-may-be-inferred-again-that-the-presen_722431.jpg" --- # It may be inferred again that the present movement for… ![“It may be inferred again that the present movement for women’s rights will certainly prevail from the history of its only opponent, Northern conservatism. This [Northern conservatism] is a party which never conserves anything. Its history has been that it demurs to each aggression of the…” quote by Robert Lewis Dabney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/02d/robert-lewis-dabney-44051_american-politics_it-may-be-inferred-again-that-the-presen_722431.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/02d/robert-lewis-dabney-44051_american-politics_it-may-be-inferred-again-that-the-presen_722431.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/02d/robert-lewis-dabney-44051_american-politics_it-may-be-inferred-again-that-the-presen_722431.jpg) > ““It may be inferred again that the present movement for women’s rights will certainly prevail from the history of its only opponent, Northern conservatism. This \[Northern conservatism\] is a party which never conserves anything. Its history has been that it demurs to each aggression of the progressive party, and aims to save its credit by a respectable amount of growling, but always acquiesces at last in the innovation. What was the resisted novelty of yesterday is today one of the accepted principles of conservatism; it is now conservative only in affecting to resist the next innovation, which will tomorrow be forced upon its timidity and will be succeeded by some third revolution; to be denounced and then adopted in its turn. American conservatism is merely the shadow that follows Radicalism as it moves forward towards perdition. It remains behind it, but never retards it, and always advances near its leader. This pretended salt hath utterly lost its savor: wherewith shall it be salted? Its impotency is not hard, indeed, to explain. It is worthless because it is the conservatism of expediency only, and not of sturdy principle. It intends to risk nothing serious for the sake of the truth, and has no idea of being guilty of the folly of martyrdom. It always when about to enter a protest very blandly informs the wild beast whose path it essays to stop, that its “bark is worse than its bite,” and that it only means to save its manners by enacting its decent role of resistance: The only practical purpose which it now subserves in American politics is to give enough exercise to Radicalism to keep it “in wind,” and to prevent its becoming pursy and lazy, from having nothing to whip.”” [Robert Lewis Dabney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-lewis-dabney/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Conservatism is portrayed as reactive, lacking firm principles, merely opposing progress to preserve its own relevance. **In simple terms:** Conservatism reacts, not leads. Key Takeaway Recognize when opposition is self‑preserving rather than principled. Themes politics ideology change conservatism progressivism Mood critical analytical skeptical Type political historical When to use this quote - political debates - policy formation - social movements - academic analysis Key Concepts reactivity principle radicalism historical cycles Questions to Reflect On - Is opposition always reactionary? - How can principled conservatism be distinguished? A Different Perspective Conservatism may sometimes provide stability and protect minority rights. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [American politics](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/american-politics/) [Conservatism](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/conservatism/) [Conservatism Merely](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/conservatism-merely-5675373/) [Conservatism Northern](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/conservatism-northern-5675374/) [Europe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/europe/) [History](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/history/) [Northern Conservatism](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/northern-conservatism-5675372/) [Principles Conservatism](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/principles-conservatism-4296143/) [Progressivism](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/progressivism/) [Radicalism](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/radicalism/) [Wild beast](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/wild-beast/) [Women'S Rights](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/women-s-rights-2/) ## Related quotes > [Let's trace the birth of an idea. 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Its history has been that it demurs to each aggression of the progressive party, and aims to save its credit by a respectable amount of growling, but always acquiesces at last in the innovation. What was the resisted novelty of yesterday is today one of the accepted principles of conservatism; it is now conservative only in affecting to resist the next innovation, which will tomorrow be forced upon its timidity and will be succeeded by some third revolution; to be denounced and then adopted in its turn. American conservatism is merely the shadow that follows Radicalism as it moves forward towards perdition. It remains behind it, but never retards it, and always advances near its leader. This pretended salt hath utterly lost its savor: wherewith shall it be salted? Its impotency is not hard, indeed, to explain. It is worthless because it is the conservatism of expediency only, and not of sturdy principle. It intends to risk nothing serious for the sake of the truth, and has no idea of being guilty of the folly of martyrdom. It always when about to enter a protest very blandly informs the wild beast whose path it essays to stop, that its “bark is worse than its bite,” and that it only means to save its manners by enacting its decent role of resistance: The only practical purpose which it now subserves in American politics is to give enough exercise to Radicalism to keep it “in wind,” and to prevent its becoming pursy and lazy, from having nothing to whip.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Robert Lewis Dabney" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-lewis-dabney/it-may-be-inferred-again-that-the-present-movement-for-women-s-rights/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "American politics" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-lewis-dabney/it-may-be-inferred-again-that-the-present-movement-for-women-s-rights/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/02d/robert-lewis-dabney-44051_american-politics_it-may-be-inferred-again-that-the-presen_722431.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/02d/robert-lewis-dabney-44051_american-politics_it-may-be-inferred-again-that-the-presen_722431.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/02d/robert-lewis-dabney-44051_american-politics_it-may-be-inferred-again-that-the-presen_722431.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“It may be inferred again that the present movement for women’s rights will certainly prevail from the…” — Robert Lewis Dabney", "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": "Robert Lewis Dabney", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-lewis-dabney/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "“It may be inferred again that...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-lewis-dabney/it-may-be-inferred-again-that-the-present-movement-for-women-s-rights/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-lewis-dabney/it-may-be-inferred-again-that-the-present-movement-for-women-s-rights/#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 } } ] } ```