“Man is an animal that cannot find restfulness in this life, since he cannot just live in a state of self-oblivion within the passing of time. In every instant, Gómez-Dávila claims, man is subjected or exposed to the radical fragmentation of the world, because there is no state in which he finds himself that does not wound his restless heart. Human beings strive for serenity but can only attain it at odd moments in which they find solace for their loneliness. This understanding of the basic structures of human existence can appear rather bleak, but it has to be remembered that Gómez-Dávila here paints a remorseless picture of the futility of human striving in order to highlight man’s absolute dependence on God.” […]

“The reactionary is a defender of the soul’s claim to beauty and intelligence. Reactionary thinking is therefore identical with opposition to a world without beauty and dignity. It is, in fact, an affirmation of a concrete beauty as a sign of intellectual self-respect in an age of widespread nihilism.”

▪ Till Kinzel, Introduction to Nicolá Gómez-Dávila, Scholia to an Implicit Text: Bilingual Selected Edition (Villegas Editores, 2013) extract from pages 12 and 13 respectively.

SydneyTrads is the internet portal and communication page of the Sydney Traditionalist Forum: an association of young professionals who form part of the Australian independent right (also known as “dissident right” or “outer right”).