Here are some quotes I found to be very helpful in explaining the differences between Liberalism and Conservatism:

Conservatism

“To be conservative, then, is to prefer the familiar to the unknown, to prefer the tried to the untried, fact to mystery, the actual to the possible, the limited to the unbounded, the near to the distant, the sufficient to the superabundant, the convenient to the perfect, present laughter to utopian bliss. Familiar relationships and loyalties will be preferred to the allure of more profitable attachments; to acquire and to enlarge will be less important than to keep, to cultivate and to enjoy; the grief of loss will be more acute than the excitement of novelty or promise. It is to be equal to one's own fortune, to live at the level of one's own means, to be content with the want of greater perfection which belongs alike to oneself and one's circumstances.” – Michael Oakeshott

Liberalism

“Liberalism is an attitude rather than a set of dogmas - an attitude that insists upon questioning all plausible and self-evident propositions, seeking not to reject them but to find out what evidence there is to support them rather than their possible alternatives.” – Morris Raphael Cohen

Difference

“What do we call conservative, and what do we call liberal, in daily life? A conservative explains behavior spiritually, and personalizes responsibility. In Aristotelian terms, the principle of motion is within us. A liberal, by contrast, explains behavior mechanically, and externalizes responsibility: the principle of motion is outside us. Thus, in the typical policy debate, a liberal makes excuses for the human agent, and a conservative places blame. The spark of the liberal argument -- He didn’t have the same opportunities you did -- meets the conservative conceptual firewall: Lots of people start poor, but still find ways to make it.” – Mark Riebling

But it is important to note the difference between the Liberalism and Conservatism of today with the original forms of it. Present day Liberalism, in the United States context, is similar to the Social Democratic movements developing from a combination of Classical Liberalism (capitalism) and Socialism. It is the middle ground between the two. Present day Conservatism, in the US-CA-UK context, is similar to Classical Liberalism mixed with a variant of Social, rather than national/cultural, Conservatism.

Margaret Thatcher explained it well: “The kind of Conservatism which he (Keith Joseph) and I...favoured would be best described as "liberal", in the old-fashioned sense. And I mean the liberalism of Mr. Gladstone not of the latter day collectivists.” The ‘Conservatism’ of Thatcher is similar to the ‘Conservative’ warriors across the West who rose to power during the 1980s. It was to reject the Conservatism of the past 180+ years in favor of a Classical Liberal approach favoring markets over nation and individuals over community.

***My opinions below, feel free to ignore***

I consider myself a Conservative of the old, which is one who rejects the notions individualism, liberalism, modernity, and supposed ‘social progresses’. It has a heavy belief in natural law and transcendent moral order, tradition, hierarchy and organic unity, agrarianism, classicism and high culture, and loyalty.

The one key difference between the Classical Liberalism masquerading as Conservatism and true Conservatism is the belief in defending Capitalism as some sort of established institution of society. One can be a true Conservative and a Capitalist but cannot be anywhere near laissez-faire capitalism and be a true Conservative. But it also requires one to think outside of a social democratic structure as well, where government does not micromanage society but instead hands the power over to families, communities, and established institutions such as the church. The role of the state is not rejected as evil either, the state can be a welcomed ally in confronting societal ills, but should know its place.

So I apologize this thread is skewed towards Conservatism, it is only that way because I am a Conservative. The part below the star signs *** is just me giving my take of things.

The differences can be summed up rather neatly, and in my own words.

Conservativism is the believe that your own wants and needs are paramount and that society should be bent around whatever you personally think is best. "I don't like this so it needs to be outlawed. I want that, so we need to change it to the way I like it. And screw anyone who gets hurt in the process. I'm here to make a better world for me, and me alone"

Liberalism is the realization that individuals are members of a greater society, a network of people that need to see to each others' well being for their own. "Yes, I may want this, but if I get it, will it hurt this person over there, and if so, will that mess up the whole thing? No, I don't like that, but what are the repercussions to the bigger picture if I get it thrown away?"

And in the media it goes
Liberal: welfare, welfare, welfare; equal rights, equal rights, equal rights

Conservative: responsibility, responsiblity, responsibility; moral values, moral values, moral values

on another note, i think those who are conservative are by default more closed minded in a changing world. The concern against the liberal is the slippery slope for change and the concern against conservatives is that unfairness is outdated.

my opinion is that those identifications become more complex over the years, only because people will identify themselves as both circumstantially and favor situational thinking over ideology.

Most of the progress the U.S. has made in the past 100 years or so is because there were MODERATES in both parties willing to concede on certain issues and policies.

There are NO moderates in politics today.

Lieberman is a very close example of what a moderate should be,an what did the liberals in the Democratic party do to him?

Through him under the bus!

Ron Paul is a moderate Republican too.

Most Libertarians were either moderate Republicans or moderate Democrats at one time.

As both parties leadership when to the opposite extremes, the moderates just started their own separate party.

I am a moderate,I understand both sides beliefs but what needs to be done needs to be done in moderation.

You can lay outside for 15 minutes a day and in a week you have a nice tan,or you can lay outside for a hour and a half and get a bad sunburn.

The conservative way you can still go out and party with your friends and in a week every will notice your nice tan the liberal way you sit at home and are in pain for a day or two and then walk around looking burnt and then shed skin like a molting lizard.

My head is spinning after reading only a couple posts.
Its amazing how people try to define these things.
Liberal means something very different if Europe and America. Might be worth saying which version of liberal is being described.
Liberal - the word derives from Latin (liber) which means freedom. The European liberal believes in individual freedom and responsibility, the American one seems to want Gov to take care of things.

A large part of this definition problem comes from using words with indefinite meanings.
None of us really fit in these silly little predefined boxes anyway.

All I can still think of despite several explanations and typical DC political games on the parties is summed up as below.

Liberal: Does not use KY Jelly to screw the Public.
Conservative: Uses KY Jelly to screw the Public.

What's the point of this post?

Your making no statements other than describing the difference between two words?

I fail to see why this deserves a thread.

I'd just like to post something from someone I admire deeply, which I've found to be very true time and time again.

Liberalization is the transformation of mankind into cattle.

- F. Nietzsche

Over time, textbook after textbook has been written on this topic. I can pretty accurately predict they will also be written in the future.

But, as a simple plain old 'guy on the street', my layman's definitions are quite simple:

Liberals believe that there has to be an overpaid government led bureaucracy to help find out how much of your money they can siphon off to the rich folk who ensure they get elected. They like to give some of your money to the really poor folk too so you get all warm and fuzzy while being robbed blind.

Conservatives believe that they can figure out how much of their money they can siphon off to the rich folk who ensure they get elected without the help of some overpaid government led bureaucracy. They don't give a rats-ass about the really poor people, so they feel justified by taking a bit less out of your wallet so you feel a bit better off than under a Liberal-led government until you become one of those really poor people they don't give a rats-ass about.


The end result is the same . . . both find ways to suck the money out of your wallet under the guise of leading you to the promised land of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.

The only thing they don’t tell you, it’s their happiness not yours.