3. Am I a Liberal? (1925) 11

If one is born a political animal, it is mostuncomfortable not to belong to a party; cold andlonely and futile it is. If your party is strong,and its programme and its philosophy sym-pathetic, satisfying the gregarious, practical, andintellectual instincts all at the same time, howvery agreeable that must be!—worth a largesubscription and all one’s spare time;—that is,if you are a political animal.

So the political animal who cannot bringhimself to utter the contemptible words, “Iam no party man,” would almost rather belongto any party than to none. If he cannot find ahome by the principle of attraction, he mustfind one by the principle of repulsion and go tothose whom he dislikes least, rather than stayout in the cold.

Now take my own case—where am I landedon this negative test? How could I bring my-self to be a Conservative? They offer meneither food nor drink—neither intellectual norspiritual consolation. I should not be amused

1 An address to the Liberal Summer School at Cambridge.