In political activity, then, men sail a boundless and bottomless sea; there is neither harbour for shelter nor floor for anchorage, neither starting-place nor appointed destination. The enterprise is to keep afloat on an even keel; the sea is both friend and enemy; and the seamanship consists in using the resources of a traditional manner of behavior in order to make a friend of every hostile occasion.

Michael Oakeshott

Political Education

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Oakeshott, Michael. "Political Education." Rationalism in Politics and Other Essays. Methuen, 1962.