" doesn’t sound like conservatism to me. It sounds more like moderation, perhaps, which is not the same thing, and which is, I suspect, what the vast majority of people want.” He paused. “And yet that’s not what the world is like at the moment, is it? There’s all this chest-beating. On all sides. Bluster. Dislike. Scorn. Blaming others for everything. Posturing.” “Yes, yes,” said Matthew, ruefully. “I sometimes wonder why we can’t be nice "

― Alexander McCall Smith , A Promise of Ankles (44 Scotland Street #14)