Michael Howard Quotes

• The true use of history, whether civil or military, is not to make man clever for the next time, it is to make him wise forever.

  Michael Howard

  Wise, Wisdom, Clever

  12 Copy quote

• People often of masterful intelligence, trained usually in law or economics or perhaps in political science, who have led their governments into disastrous decisions and miscalculations because they have no awareness whatever of the historical background, the cultural universe, of the foreign societies with which they have to deal.

  Michael Howard

  Government, Law, People

  17 Copy quote

• We must rediscover the habit of thinking the best of each other

  Michael Howard

  Love, Friendship, Relationship

  4 Copy quote

• The important thing when you are going to do something brave is to have someone on hand to witness it.

  Michael Howard

  Hands, Bravery, Important

  8 Copy quote

• So long as the international community consists of sovereign states, war between them remains a possibility, of which all governments have to take reasonable account.

  Michael Howard

  Peace, War, Government

  Michael Howard (1962). “The Causes of Wars and Other Essays”, p.25, Harvard University Press

  7 Copy quote

• A common language is the most obvious binding element in any society.

  Michael Howard

  Elements, Common, Language

  "s Full text: Michael Howard's speech". www.theguardian.com. September 22, 2004.

  7 Copy quote

• I make no apologies for any inconsistencies or contradictions in my essays. Those who do not change their minds in the course of a decade have probably stopped thinking all together.
  The true use of history, whether civil or military, is not to make man clever for the next time, it is to make him wise forever.

  Michael Howard

  Wise, Clever, Military

  9 Copy quote

• History is what we read, write and think about the past.

  Michael Howard

  Writing, Past, Thinking

  7 Copy quote

• What is Parliament for if it is not to be a means to make ministers accountable for the services for which they are responsible.

  Michael Howard

  Mean, Responsible, Ministers

  "Blair: Howard is exploiting Dixon" by Tom Happold, www.theguardian.com. March 4, 2005.

  7 Copy quote

• Let us be clear. Prison works. It ensures that we are protected from murderers, muggers and rapists, and it makes many who are tempted to commit crime think twice.

  Michael Howard

  Thinking, Muggers, Prison

  "Howard seeks to placate 'angry majority". The Independent, October 7, 1993.

  8 Copy quote

• There is only one opinion poll that I am interested in and that is the one that will take place on election day.

  Michael Howard

  Election, Opinion, Polls

  4 Copy quote

• We cannot possibly take them all into this country [asylum seekers] - it is a completely unrealistic expectation.

  Michael Howard

  Country, Expectations, Asylums

  4 Copy quote

• We're not saying, 'We're politicians, trust us.' We know you don't trust us.

  Michael Howard

  Trust, Politician, Don't Trust

  6 Copy quote

• Tony Blair is already secretly grinning at the prospect of his third victory. You don't have to settle for that.

  Michael Howard

  Victory, Settling, Blair

  4 Copy quote

• I will never stand again for the leadership of the Conservative Party.

  Michael Howard

  Party, Conservative, Conservative Party

  4 Copy quote

• I believe abortion should be available to everyone, but the law should be changed. In the past I voted for a restriction to 22 weeks, and I would be prepared to go down to 20.

  Michael Howard

  Believe, Past, Law

  "Howard urges limits on 'too easy' abortions" by Gaby Hinsliff, www.theguardian.com. March 13, 2005.

  7 Copy quote

• I am happy to debate the past with the Prime Minister... I have a big dossier on his past, and I did not even have to sex it up.

  Michael Howard

  Sex, Past, Debate

  4 Copy quote

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