For Burke, conservatism is a sometimes useful rhetorical and practical-political weapon, not a set of principles. Burke is, I think, best understood as and is useful and worth reading precisely because he is not Oakeshott: Burke is Whig measures in Tory guise.

— J. Bradford DeLong

What It Means

This is a placeholder explanation generated by the low-overhead model. It interprets "For Burke, conservatism is a sometimes useful rhetorical and practical-political weapon, not a set of principles. Burke is, I think, best understood as and is useful and worth reading precisely because he is not Oakeshott: Burke is Whig measures in Tory guise." in the context of "J. Bradford DeLong, "Tuesday Archives: A Question About What I Do Not Get About Michael Oakeshott..." (1 July 2014)" to mean that wisdom is timeless.

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Source: Wikiquote: "Edmund Burke" (Quotes about Burke: Sorted alphabetically by author, B) The 'What it means' explanation text was generated by Google Gemini Flash (accessed January 18, 2026). https://gemini.google.com/app
Edmund Burke

About Edmund Burke

Edmund Burke (12 January 1729 – 9 July 1797) was a British and Irish statesman and philosopher. Born in Dublin, Burke served as a member of parliament (MP) between 1766 and 1794 in the House of Commons of Great Britain with the Whig Party after moving to London in 1750.