Britain Quotes - Page 29

• In Great Britain, an author published a book in which he claimed that Jesus Christ had children. Such statements don't trigger civil unrest and bloodshed in Europe. But write similar statements about Islam in Syria and you might see bloody uprisings.

  Bashar al-Assad

  Jesus, Children, Book

  ""Poverty Is a Greater Concern for Most than a Democratic Constitution"". Interview with Martin Doerry, www.spiegel.de. August 29, 2005.

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• Our language and literature are without a doubt Britain's greatest contribution to the cultural heritage of the world.

  Tessa Jowell

  Doubt, Heritage, Literature

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• If democracy is destroyed in Britain, it will be not the communists, Trotskyists or subversives but this House which threw it away. The rights that are entrusted to us are not for us to give away. Even if I agree with everything that is proposed, I cannot hand away powers lent to me for five years by the people of Chesterfield. I just could not do it. It would be theft of public rights.

  Tony Benn

  Rights, Hands, Years

  Tony Benn's Speech in House of Commons during a debate on the Treaty of Maastricht, hansard.millbanksystems.com. November 20, 1991.

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• Britain was set to repeat the boom-bust cycle that led to 15 per cent. interest rates for one whole year in the early 1990s.

  Gordon Brown

  Years, Interest, Rate

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• Indeed, Britain was set to repeat the old, familiar cycle of boom and bust. Since then, we have created and rigorously adhered to a new framework of modern economic management

  Gordon Brown

  Management, Modern, Economic

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• Britain does not want a return to boom and bust.

  Gordon Brown

  Doe, Want, Return

  Gordon Brown's Budget speech, www.theguardian.com. March 21, 2000.

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• Britain is doing brilliant things around the world and that is why I described as a 'superpower on development'.

  Andrew Mitchell

  Development, World, Brilliant

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• During part of 1941 and 1942, when the Luftwaffe was busy in Russia, the German radio regaled its home audience with stories of devastating air raids on London. Now, we are aware that those raids did not happen. But what use would our knowledge be if the Germans conquered Britain? For the purpose of a future historian, did those raids happen, or didn't they? The answer is: If Hitler survives, they happened, and if he falls they didn't happen.

  George Orwell

  Fall, Home, Russia

  George Orwell (1968). “The Collected Essays, Journalism, and Letters of George Orwell: As I please, 1943-1945”

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• There's a lot of anti-intellectualism in Britain. And the writer's views on this or that are really of less importance, as they see it, than that of the man in the street.

  Martin Amis

  Men, Views, He Man

  "New New Yorker Martin Amis Talks Terrorism, Pornography, Idyllic Brooklyn and American Decline". Interview with David Wallace-Wells, www.vulture.com. July 22, 2012.

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• I have always said that if Great Britain were defeated in war I hoped we should find a Hitler to lead us back to our rightful position among the nations. I am sorry, however, that he has not been mellowed by the great success that has attended him. The whole world would rejoice to see the Hitler of peace and tolerance, and nothing would adorn his name in world history so much as acts of magnanimity and of mercy and of pity to the forlorn and friendless, to the weak and poor.... Let this great man search his own heart and conscience before he accuses anyone of being a warmonger.

  Winston Churchill

  Sorry, War, Heart

  "Mr. Churchill's Reply". The Times, November 7, 1938.

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• Great Britain have won 40% of their medals in cycling. If only there was snooker, darts and a dog show.

  Jim Lampley

  Dog, Cycling, Snooker

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• Failure in Afghanistan would have profound consequences for our national security. It would undermine the NATO alliance structure that has been the bedrock of Britain's defence for the last 60 years... I will not allow this to happen on my watch.

  Bob Ainsworth

  Years, Profound, Watches

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• And I think the almost undeviating support by Great Britain for the ill-advised policies of President Bush in Iraq have been a major tragedy for the world.

  Jimmy Carter

  Thinking, Iraq, Support

  "Bush Is 'the Worst in History' In Foreign Relations, Carter Says". www.washingtonpost.com. May 20, 2007.

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• We have, or have had women presidents or prime ministers in Liberia, Chile, Germany, Great Britain...and yet the US of A still hasn't had a women president. It's just beyond my thinking. Look at Congress.

  Billie Jean King

  Thinking, President, Germany

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• Over the four years we have made massive progress: winning the League Championship (97/98); building the largest club stadium in the UK (60,000 seats); having the largest support (52,000 season book holders) of any club in Britain. This has been achieved by everyone who cares about Celtic working together towards a shared vision of football success and pride in a club which is part of our culture, open to all and a responsible member of the community working to help others where it can.

  Fergus McCann

  Football, Book, Pride

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• I have always felt an excellent rapport ever since my very first concert in Britain at Hampton Court. I have always felt understood. The British understand opera very well.

  Andrea Bocelli

  Opera, Firsts, Excellent

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• Britain has a lot of wind. It's our wind. We don't have to import it.

  Edward Davey

  Wind, Imports

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• I think it is vitally important to study History. If we are going to lead Britain safely into the future, it is essential that we understand our country's historical roots. If we can learn the lessons of the past, we will be able to avoid making mistakes in the future.

  Tony Blair

  Country, Mistake, Past

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• Every Conservative desires peace. The threat to peace comes from Communism which has powerful forces ready to attack anywhere. Communism waits for weakness, it leaves strength alone. Britain must therefore be strong, strong in her arms, strong in her faith, strong in her own way of life.

  Margaret Thatcher

  Strong, Powerful, Waiting

  Margaret Thatcher, Iain Dale (1997). “As I said to Denis--: the Margaret Thatcher book of quotations”, Robson Book Ltd

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• I pay tribute to John Major's achievement in persuading the other 11 Community Heads of Government that they could move ahead to a Social Chapter but not within the treaty and without Britain's participation. It sets a vital precedent. For an enlarged Community can only function if we build in flexibility of that kind... John Major deserves high praise for ensuring at Maastricht that we would not have either a Single Currency or the absurd provisions of the Social Chapter forced upon us: our industry, workforce, and national prosperity will benefit as a result.

  Margaret Thatcher

  Moving, Government, Achievement

  "Europe’s Political Architecture". Margaret Thatcher's Speech, www.margaretthatcher.org. May 15, 1992.

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• It had the effect of cementing the Anglo-American alliance. What's the good of having bases if when you want to use them you're not allowed to by the home country. It made America realise that Britain was her real and true friend, when they were hard up against it and wanted something, and that no one else in Europe was. They're a weak lot, some of them in Europe you know. Weak. Feeble.

  Margaret Thatcher

  Country, True Friend, Real

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• People of Baghdad, remember for 26 generations you have suffered under strange tyrants who have ever endeavoured to set one Arab house against another in order that they might profit by your dissensions. This policy is abhorrent to Great Britain and her Allies for there can be neither peace nor prosperity where there is enmity or misgovernment. Our armies do not come into your cities and lands as conquerors or enemies, but as liberators.

  Frederick Stanley Maude

  Army, Land, Cities

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• In the late 1930s, both the British and American movie industries made a succession of films celebrating the decency of the British Empire in order to challenge the threatening tide of Nazism and fascism and also to provide employment for actors from Los Angeles's British colony. The best two were Hollywood's Gunga Din and Britain's The Four Feathers...

  Philip French

  Order, Two, Challenges

  "The Four Feathers" by Philip French, www.theguardian.com. February 17, 2007.

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• People who believe in 'universal health care' show remarkably little interest - usually none - in finding out what that phrase turns out to mean in practice, in those countries where it already exists, such as Britain, Sweden or Canada. For one thing, 'universal health care' in these countries means months of waiting for surgery that Americans get in a matter of weeks or even days.

  Thomas Sowell

  Country, Believe, Mean

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• A recent study by David Green and Laura Casper, 'Delay, Denial and Dilution,' written for the London-based Institute of Economic Affairs, concludes that the World Health Organization calculated that Britain has as many as 25,000 unnecessary cancer deaths a year because of under-provision of care.

  Walter E. Williams

  Cancer, Years, Organization

  Walter E. Williams (2015). “American Contempt for Liberty”, p.272, Hoover Institution Press

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