Russell Kirk's 10 Principles of Conservatives

1. Conservatives believe that there exists an enduring moral order.
2. Conservatives adhere to custom, convention, and continuity.
3. Conservatives believe in what may be called the principle of prescription. The individual is foolish, but the species is wise and it is perilous (and conceited) to weigh every passing issue on the basis of private judgment and private rationality. 
4. Conservatives are guided by their principle of prudence.
5. Conservatives pay attention to the principle of variety.  They feel affection for the proliferating intricacy of long-established social institutions and modes of life, as distinguished from the narrowing uniformity and deadening egalitarianism of radical systems. 
6. Conservatives are chastened by their principle of imperfectability. 
7. Conservatives are persuaded that freedom and property are closely linked. 
8. Conservatives uphold voluntary community, quite as they oppose involuntary collectivism. 
9. Conservatives perceive the need for prudent restraints upon power and upon human passions. 
10. Conservatives understand that permanence and change must be recognized and reconciled in a vigorous society. 

 
 Source:  The Russell Kirk Center