Tradition is the living faith of the dead, traditionalism is the dead faith of the living. And, I suppose I should add, it is traditionalism that gives tradition such a bad name.

Jaroslav Pelikan
Tradition is the living faith of the dead, traditionalism is...
Tradition is the living faith of the dead, traditionalism is...
Tradition is the living faith of the dead, traditionalism is...
Tradition is the living faith of the dead, traditionalism is...
About This Quote

I have long felt that the difference between tradition and traditionalism is that the former is living, while the latter is dead. Tradition is what makes things work—it’s why hotels have names, why libraries have shelves, and why people have families. It’s what keeps us safe from danger. Traditionalism, meanwhile, is all about preserving the past instead of working to make things work in the present. That’s why now we call traditionalists “traditionalists”—not because they are traditionalists, but because they are resisting change.

Source: The Vindication Of Tradition: The 1983 Jefferson Lecture In The Humanities

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