{"id":5283,"date":"2012-04-29T22:38:40","date_gmt":"2012-04-30T02:38:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.chesterton.org\/?page_id=5283"},"modified":"2018-11-17T00:01:04","modified_gmt":"2018-11-17T06:01:04","slug":"democracy-of-the-dead","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.chesterton.org\/store\/democracy-of-the-dead\/","title":{"rendered":"Tradition Is the Democracy of the Dead"},"content":{"rendered":"<p style=\"text-align: left;\"><strong>QUESTION:<\/strong>\u00a0<em>I&#8217;ve heard this line quoted: &#8220;Tradition is the democracy of the dead. It means giving a vote to the most obscure of all classes: our ancestors.&#8221; It&#8217;s a great line. Where does it come from?<\/em><\/p>\n<p><strong>ANSWER:<\/strong> It comes from Chesterton&#8217;s book, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.chesterton.org\/shop\/orthodoxy-dover\"> <em>Orthodoxy<\/em><\/a>, Chapter 4, &#8220;The Ethics of Elfland.&#8221; And the line is usually quoted backwards, as you have quoted it. It actually reads: &#8220;Tradition means giving a vote to most obscure of all classes, our ancestors. It is the democracy of the dead.&#8221; Chesterton goes on to say: &#8220;Tradition refuses to submit to the small and arrogant oligarchy of those who merely happen to be walking about. All democrats object to men being disqualified by the accident of birth; tradition objects to their being disqualified by the accident of death. Democracy tells us not to neglect a good man&#8217;s opinion, even if he is our groom; tradition asks us not to neglect a good man&#8217;s opinion, even if he is our father.&#8221;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>QUESTION:\u00a0I&#8217;ve heard this line quoted: &#8220;Tradition is the democracy of the dead. It means giving a vote to the most obscure of all classes: our ancestors.&#8221; It&#8217;s a great line. Where does it come from? ANSWER: It comes from Chesterton&#8217;s book, Orthodoxy, Chapter 4, &#8220;The Ethics of Elfland.&#8221; And the line is usually quoted backwards, [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":11,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"give_campaign_id":0,"site-sidebar-layout":"right-sidebar","site-content-layout":"default","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"disabled","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[139],"tags":[1010,1008,1009],"class_list":["post-5283","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-frequently-asked-questions","tag-ancestors","tag-democracy-of-the-dead","tag-tradition"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.3 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Tradition is the Democracy of the Dead<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"&quot;Tradition means giving a vote to most obscure of all classes, our ancestors. It is the democracy of the dead.&quot; Chesterton&#039;s famous quote.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.chesterton.org\/store\/democracy-of-the-dead\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Tradition is the Democracy of the Dead\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"&quot;Tradition means giving a vote to most obscure of all classes, our ancestors. It is the democracy of the dead.&quot; Chesterton&#039;s famous quote.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.chesterton.org\/store\/democracy-of-the-dead\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Store | Society of Gilbert Keith Chesterton\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/AmericanChestertonSociety\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2012-04-30T02:38:40+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2018-11-17T06:01:04+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Ted &amp; Rachel Schluenderfritz\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Ted &amp; Rachel Schluenderfritz\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"1 minute\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.chesterton.org\\\/store\\\/democracy-of-the-dead\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.chesterton.org\\\/store\\\/democracy-of-the-dead\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Ted &amp; Rachel Schluenderfritz\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.chesterton.org\\\/store\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/e0605aed23beca7c76b87929f073df6a\"},\"headline\":\"Tradition Is the Democracy of the Dead\",\"datePublished\":\"2012-04-30T02:38:40+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2018-11-17T06:01:04+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.chesterton.org\\\/store\\\/democracy-of-the-dead\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":174,\"commentCount\":9,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.chesterton.org\\\/store\\\/#organization\"},\"keywords\":[\"ancestors\",\"Democracy of the Dead\",\"tradition\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Frequently Asked Questions\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.chesterton.org\\\/store\\\/democracy-of-the-dead\\\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.chesterton.org\\\/store\\\/democracy-of-the-dead\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.chesterton.org\\\/store\\\/democracy-of-the-dead\\\/\",\"name\":\"Tradition is the Democracy of the Dead\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.chesterton.org\\\/store\\\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2012-04-30T02:38:40+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2018-11-17T06:01:04+00:00\",\"description\":\"\\\"Tradition means giving a vote to most obscure of all classes, our ancestors. It is the democracy of the dead.\\\" Chesterton's famous quote.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.chesterton.org\\\/store\\\/democracy-of-the-dead\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.chesterton.org\\\/store\\\/democracy-of-the-dead\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.chesterton.org\\\/store\\\/democracy-of-the-dead\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.chesterton.org\\\/store\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Tradition Is the Democracy of the Dead\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.chesterton.org\\\/store\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.chesterton.org\\\/store\\\/\",\"name\":\"Store | Society of Gilbert Keith Chesterton\",\"description\":\"Apostolate of Common Sense\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.chesterton.org\\\/store\\\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.chesterton.org\\\/store\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.chesterton.org\\\/store\\\/#organization\",\"name\":\"American Chesterton Society\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.chesterton.org\\\/store\\\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.chesterton.org\\\/store\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.chesterton.org\\\/store\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2020\\\/11\\\/cropped-Chesterton_Seal_Navy-1.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.chesterton.org\\\/store\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2020\\\/11\\\/cropped-Chesterton_Seal_Navy-1.png\",\"width\":\"1181\",\"height\":\"1174\",\"caption\":\"American Chesterton Society\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.chesterton.org\\\/store\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.facebook.com\\\/AmericanChestertonSociety\\\/\",\"https:\\\/\\\/x.com\\\/AmChestertonSoc\"]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.chesterton.org\\\/store\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/e0605aed23beca7c76b87929f073df6a\",\"name\":\"Ted &amp; Rachel Schluenderfritz\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/bcc41f9f24c3f71e8014838fad6723949e05125d842382c261d4f208047ba085?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/bcc41f9f24c3f71e8014838fad6723949e05125d842382c261d4f208047ba085?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/bcc41f9f24c3f71e8014838fad6723949e05125d842382c261d4f208047ba085?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Ted &amp; Rachel Schluenderfritz\"},\"description\":\"The American Chesterton Society (ACS), founded in 1996, works to promote interest in G.K. Chesterton (1874-1936), one of the 20th century\u2019s greatest writers.\u00a0We ask our members to help revive an interest in Chesterton, to spread his influence and ideas, to bring him to a new generation, and to give him as a gift.\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.chesterton.org\\\/store\\\/author\\\/admin\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Tradition is the Democracy of the Dead","description":"\"Tradition means giving a vote to most obscure of all classes, our ancestors. It is the democracy of the dead.\" Chesterton's famous quote.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.chesterton.org\/store\/democracy-of-the-dead\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Tradition is the Democracy of the Dead","og_description":"\"Tradition means giving a vote to most obscure of all classes, our ancestors. It is the democracy of the dead.\" Chesterton's famous quote.","og_url":"https:\/\/www.chesterton.org\/store\/democracy-of-the-dead\/","og_site_name":"Store | Society of Gilbert Keith Chesterton","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/AmericanChestertonSociety\/","article_published_time":"2012-04-30T02:38:40+00:00","article_modified_time":"2018-11-17T06:01:04+00:00","author":"Ted &amp; Rachel Schluenderfritz","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Ted &amp; Rachel Schluenderfritz","Est. reading time":"1 minute"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.chesterton.org\/store\/democracy-of-the-dead\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.chesterton.org\/store\/democracy-of-the-dead\/"},"author":{"name":"Ted &amp; Rachel Schluenderfritz","@id":"https:\/\/www.chesterton.org\/store\/#\/schema\/person\/e0605aed23beca7c76b87929f073df6a"},"headline":"Tradition Is the Democracy of the Dead","datePublished":"2012-04-30T02:38:40+00:00","dateModified":"2018-11-17T06:01:04+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.chesterton.org\/store\/democracy-of-the-dead\/"},"wordCount":174,"commentCount":9,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.chesterton.org\/store\/#organization"},"keywords":["ancestors","Democracy of the Dead","tradition"],"articleSection":["Frequently Asked Questions"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/www.chesterton.org\/store\/democracy-of-the-dead\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.chesterton.org\/store\/democracy-of-the-dead\/","url":"https:\/\/www.chesterton.org\/store\/democracy-of-the-dead\/","name":"Tradition is the Democracy of the Dead","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.chesterton.org\/store\/#website"},"datePublished":"2012-04-30T02:38:40+00:00","dateModified":"2018-11-17T06:01:04+00:00","description":"\"Tradition means giving a vote to most obscure of all classes, our ancestors. It is the democracy of the dead.\" Chesterton's famous quote.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.chesterton.org\/store\/democracy-of-the-dead\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.chesterton.org\/store\/democracy-of-the-dead\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.chesterton.org\/store\/democracy-of-the-dead\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.chesterton.org\/store\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Tradition Is the Democracy of the Dead"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.chesterton.org\/store\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.chesterton.org\/store\/","name":"Store | Society of Gilbert Keith Chesterton","description":"Apostolate of Common Sense","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.chesterton.org\/store\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.chesterton.org\/store\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/www.chesterton.org\/store\/#organization","name":"American Chesterton Society","url":"https:\/\/www.chesterton.org\/store\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.chesterton.org\/store\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.chesterton.org\/store\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/cropped-Chesterton_Seal_Navy-1.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.chesterton.org\/store\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/cropped-Chesterton_Seal_Navy-1.png","width":"1181","height":"1174","caption":"American Chesterton Society"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.chesterton.org\/store\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/AmericanChestertonSociety\/","https:\/\/x.com\/AmChestertonSoc"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.chesterton.org\/store\/#\/schema\/person\/e0605aed23beca7c76b87929f073df6a","name":"Ted &amp; Rachel Schluenderfritz","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/bcc41f9f24c3f71e8014838fad6723949e05125d842382c261d4f208047ba085?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/bcc41f9f24c3f71e8014838fad6723949e05125d842382c261d4f208047ba085?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/bcc41f9f24c3f71e8014838fad6723949e05125d842382c261d4f208047ba085?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Ted &amp; Rachel Schluenderfritz"},"description":"The American Chesterton Society (ACS), founded in 1996, works to promote interest in G.K. Chesterton (1874-1936), one of the 20th century\u2019s greatest writers.\u00a0We ask our members to help revive an interest in Chesterton, to spread his influence and ideas, to bring him to a new generation, and to give him as a gift.","url":"https:\/\/www.chesterton.org\/store\/author\/admin\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.chesterton.org\/store\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5283","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.chesterton.org\/store\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.chesterton.org\/store\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.chesterton.org\/store\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/11"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.chesterton.org\/store\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5283"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.chesterton.org\/store\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5283\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.chesterton.org\/store\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5283"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.chesterton.org\/store\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5283"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.chesterton.org\/store\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5283"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}