You don't believe in progress, Ega?

In the romance "Os Maias" the best friend of the main character, João da Ega, is an eccentric one. From a firm atheist in a heavily Catholic country, to a frantic writer who never finished a piece, loud and uncontained. Although there is a scene where he proclaims he supports slavery, whilst condemning trying to "civilise" Africa. Affirming that a woman should only love and cook and any other worry she may have make her a monster.

He is asked and he answers: he does not believe in progress. Taking the story place in the late 19th century, it's rather unusual to have such views in the aristocracy environment considering his fame. 

I don't understand why I began it like this (probably to draw attention or maybe repel it), I don't agree with the statements before stated, but I say that we should not support progress just for its sake. There if a truth in conservatism, in environmental and cultural conservatism. It's like art, you cannot make anything of worth if you do not have anything of worth to base it on.

We know things had some stability because they lasted so much, we could only but learn. That's why history should be more widely understood, so we can see how there is not much new, so we can invent it. I despise this new conception of judging the past with today's knowledge and of looking at the present with yesterday's view, but anyway, what is there else to do?

You can see I don't script any of this I just go on on blabbering... Is stability worth it? Should we sacrifice theory for practicality? I really think so, we never understand how things are when put in practice. And honestly as I've seen the poor theory and logic of today derived from voluntary ignorance and inactivity have such terrible outcomes, we should really hold back a little from progress.