Why forego the advantages of so peculiar a situation?—Why quit our own to stand upon foreign ground?—Why by interweaving our destiny with that of any part of Europe, entangle our peace and prosperity in the toils of European ambition, rivalship, interest, humour or caprice?
'Tis our true policy to steer clear of permanent alliances, with any portion of the foreign world—so far, I mean, as we are now at liberty to do it.
Statesmen have to bend to the collective will of their peoples or be broken.
Spheres of influence.
Learn to think continentally.
Nursed by stern men with empires in their brains.
Statesman, yet friend to truth; of soul sincere,And prais'd, unenvy'd, by the Muse he lov'd.
It is well indeed for our land that we of this generation have learned to think nationally.
And statesmen at her council metThe bounds of freedom wider yet.
Why don't you show us a statesman who can rise up to the emergency, and cave in the emergency's head.
Tell the truth, and so puzzle and confound your adversaries.
When statesmen forsake their own private conscience for the sake of their public duties … they lead their country by a short route to chaos.
Statesmanship […] must consider first the fortunes of the common people. No statesman has a right to risk these fortunes unless he be reasonably assured of success.
It is strange so great a statesman shouldBe so sublime a poet.
But a good patriot, and a true politician, always considers how he shall make the most of the existing materials of his country. A disposition, to preserve, and an ability to improve, taken together, would be my standard of a statesman. Everything else is vulgar in the conception, perilous in the execution.
Learn to think imperially.
No statesman e'er will find it worth his painsTo tax our labours and excise our brains.
The people of the two nations [French and English] must be brought into mutual dependence by the supply of each other's wants. There is no other way of counteracting the antagonism of language and race. It is God's own method of producing an entente cordiale, and no other plan is worth a farthing.
I have the courage of my opinions, but I have not the temerity to give a political blank cheque to Lord Salisbury.
Peace, commerce, and honest friendship with all nations—entangling alliances with none.
A great statesman is he who knows when to depart from traditions, as well as when to adhere to them.
Who would not praise Patricio's high desert,All Europe sav'd, yet Britain not betray'd.
If you wish to preserve your secret wrap it up in frankness.
And lives to clutch the golden keys,And shape the whisper of the throne.