What is the Conservative view of human nature?

A Conservative view of human nature depends varies as to what strand of Conservatism you want to talk about, though there are similar themes. In general, Conservatives have a negative, pessimistic view of human nature which means that we are imperfect and imperfectible. Conservatives view humans as generally selfish and self-serving and thus unable to achieve what they view as utopian dreams. Conservatives view human reason as very limited and so it is dangerous if we plan a whole new society, detached from etsablished norms and traditions which pertain wisdom from the fact of surviving. 

Subsequently, more modern Conservatives, such as Margaret Thatcher, believe people should focus on being individuals and that ‘society’ is an abstract concept. However, some Conservatives, like Edmund Burke, see people as part of a huge community of society who should each contribute in a well-ordered hierarchy and this stability is necessary for the positives of human nature to flourish. Burkean Conservatives see human nature as one which needs order to be controlled and thus the state must act almost like a parent to a child. All Conservatives generally view human nature as destructive when given too much power in government and thus the state should be fairly small.