"君子周而不比、小人比而不周。"

"The superior man is catholic and no partizan. The mean man is a partizan and not catholic." So reads this blog's new tagline, from Confucius, The Analects 2.XIV, translated by James Legge.

In re-reading the classic, I chose not the latest, most up-to-date translation, but one of the oldest, this by the great Protestant missionary to the Far East. I like the quote obviously because it uses the word "catholic," also meaning "of general scope or value; all-inclusive; universal" and "broad in sympathies, tastes, or understanding; liberal," which I hope describes this blog. Also, it is hoped that word the word "partizan," meaning "a firm adherent to a party, faction, cause, or person ; especially : one exhibiting blind, prejudiced, and unreasoning allegiance," does not describe this blog, which draws on sources from across the political spectrum.

Russell Kirk (1918 - 1994) wrote of Edmund Burke (1729 - 1797) that he "was liberal because he was conservative." Kirk also reminded us that conservatism was the "negation of ideology. This new tagline is not only Confucian, but Burkean and Kirkian as well.

For the record, the old tagline, also from the Sage: "To put the world in order, we must first put the nation in order; to put the nation in order, we must put the family in order; to put the family in order, we must cultivate our personal life; and to cultivate our personal life, we must first set our hearts right."