Every once in a while, the world is graced with the presence of remarkable individuals in all walks of life. Mr. Buckley was such a man. Sempiternally eloquent and singularly erudite, Mr. Buckley was, in many ways, the White Rider of American conservatism. His greatest contribution, if only in my life and thought, was to demonstrate that conservatism and traditional values can be (and ought to be) defended and explained with intellectual rigor and sophistication.
What was most refreshing about Mr. Buckley's political analyses and views was that they were, in a sense, peripheral; they proceeded from an already solid philosophical and intellectual grounding, and not vice versa. For Mr. Buckley, this grounding was that of a true Renaissance man, a breed altogether ill-used by today's culture, particularly in the intelligentsia.
Who else but William F. Buckley could have left us with gems such as these?
"A Conservative is a fellow who is standing athwart history yelling 'Stop!'"
"Relate it to what should happen; fuse it into the long morality play that began, really, in the Garden of Eden."
"Truth is a demure lady, much too ladylike to knock you on your head and drag you to her cave. She is there, but people must want her, and seek her out. "
He will be honored and rememberd. "Goodnight, sweet prince, and flights of angels sing thee to thy rest."
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