Selected Short Writings of Russell Kirk

On American Conservatism, Government and Culture

Enlivening the Conservative Mind Posted Aug 2010
Source: The Intercollegiate Review, Vol. 21 (Spring 1986), pp. 25–28.
The Best Form of Government Posted Aug 2010
Source: Catholic World, Vol. 192 (December 1960), pp. 156–63.
What Are American Traditions? Posted Aug 2010
Source: The Georgia Review, Vol. 9, No. 3 (Fall 1955), pp. 283–89.
The Essence of Conservatism Posted Mar 2007
Source: Adapted from The Intelligent Woman’s Guide to Conservatism (New York: The Devin-Adair Company, 1957). Copyright © 1957 by Russell Kirk, renewed © 2002 by Annette Kirk. Used by permission.
Ten Conservative Principles Posted Mar 2007
Source: Adapted from The Politics of Prudence (ISI Books, 1993). Copyright © 1993 by Russell Kirk. Used by permission of the Estate of Russell Kirk.

On Education

Education and the Information Revolution Posted Aug 2010
The major ceremonies of the academic community have traditionally been the fall convocation and the spring commencement. This year Russell Kirk, a nationally recognized historian, author, educator and political theorist, played an important role in Grand Valley’s observance of both of these occasions. Kirk, a native of Michigan who resides in Mecosta, received an honorary Doctor of Letters degree at GVSC’s 1983 commencement. He recently returned to the campus to deliver a thought-provoking convocation address which has been the subject of lively discussion throughout the Grand Valley community. His convocation remarks were taken from the following text.
Source: Horizons (Fall 1983), pp. 1–2.
The Revitalized College: A Model Posted Aug 2010
Source: From Education in a Free Society, ed. Anne Burleigh (Indianapolis: Liberty Fund, 1973), pp. 71–101.
The Inhumane Businessman Posted Aug 2010
“A man is seldom more innocently occupied than when he is engaged in making money,” said Dr. Samuel Johnson. But he may be cheating himself, says an observer of modern American money-makers.
Source: Fortune, Vol. 55 (May 1957), pp. 160–61, 248.

On Literature and the Humanities

Literature and the Contract of Eternal Society Posted Aug 2010
Source: From Enemies of the Permanent Things. New Rochelle, NY: Arlington House, 1969.
The Moral Conservatism of Hawthorne Posted Aug 2010
Source: The Contemporary Review, Vol. 182 (December, 1952), pp. 361–66.
English Letters in the Age of Boredom Posted Aug 2010
Source: Shenandoah, Vol. 7, No. 2 (Spring 1956), pp. 3–15.
Is Life Worth Living? Posted Jun 2007
Concluding a public lecture, Russell Kirk once assured his listeners: “If you look for the Supernatural, you will find it. I promise you: I have.” From the concluding chapter of Kirk’s third-person autobiography.
Source: Russell Kirk. “Epilogue: Is Life Worth Living?” in The Sword of Imagination: Memoirs of a Half-Century of Literary Conflict (Grand Rapids, MI: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1995), 471-76. Copyright © 1995. Reprinted by permission of the estate of Russell Kirk.
The Moral Imagination Posted May 2007
The moral imagination is an enduring source of inspiration that elevates us to first principles as it guides us upwards towards virtue and wisdom and redemption.
Source: Russell Kirk. "The Moral imagination." in Literature and Belief Vol. 1 (1981), 37–49. Also published in Reclaiming a Patrimony (Washington, DC: The Heritage Foundation, 1982), 45–58. Copyright © 1981 Russell Kirk, Renewed 2007 Annette Kirk.

On History

Lincoln and the Dignity of the Presidency Posted Feb 2011
Source: A speech given February 12, 1970 (transcribed by Brad Birzer)
The Measure of Abraham Lincoln Posted Aug 2010
Source: The Month, Vol. 2 (April 1954), pp. 197–206.
The Common Heritage of America and Europe Posted Aug 2010
Source: Christianity Today, Vol. 4 (January 4, 1960), pp 259–62.
Friedrich Gentz on Revolutions Posted Aug 2010
Source: Contemporary Review, Vol. 190 (November 1956), pp. 283–87.

On Edmund Burke and His Thought

The Living Edmund Burke Posted Nov 2009
Source: From Modern Age, Summer/Fall 1982
How Dead is Edmund Burke? Posted Nov 2009
Source: Queen’s Quarterly Vol. 57 (Summer, 1950), pp. 160–171.
Burke, Providence, and Archaism Posted Nov 2009
Source: A review in The Sewanee Review Vol. 69, No. 1 (January–March, 1961), pp. 179–84.
Burke Dispassionately Considered Posted Nov 2009
Source: A review in The Sewanee Review, Volume LXXIV, Number 2, April–June, 1966.
Burke and the Principle of Order Posted Nov 2009
Source: From The Sewanee Review, Vol. 60 (April–June 1952), p. 187–201.
Edmund Burke and the Constitution Posted Nov 2009
Source: From the Intercollegiate Review, Winter 1985–86; this essay was a condensation of a longer treatment of the same subject on which Dr. Kirk was then working.
Edmund Burke and the Future of American Politics Posted Nov 2009
“We are at the beginning of great troubles.”
Source: From Modern Age, Spring 1987
Why Edmund Burke Is Studied Posted Nov 2009
To resist the idyllic imagination and the diabolical imagination, we need to know the moral imagination of Edmund Burke.
Source: First published in Modern Age, Summer/Fall 1986
Burke and Natural Rights Posted Nov 2009
Source: Reprinted from The Review of Politics, Vol. 13. No. 4, October, 1951
Burke and the Philosophy of Prescription Posted Nov 2009
Source: From Journal of the History of Ideas Vol. 14 (June, 1953), pp. 365–80.