A consensus politician is someone who does something that he doesn't believe is right because it keeps people quiet when he does it.
peoplerights
Only in Britain could it be thought a defect to be too clever by half. The probability is that too many people are too stupid by three-quarters.
people
It is time to return to those core values, time to get back to basics: to self-discipline and respect for the law, to consideration for others, to accepting responsibility for yourself and your family, and not shuffling it off on other people and the state.
disciplinefamilypeopleselfselfdisciplinethetimestime
Whether you agree with me, disagree with me, like me or loathe me, don't bind my hands when I am negotiating on behalf of the British people.
I want to see us build a country that is at ease with itself, a country that is confident and a country that is able and willing to build a better quality of life for all its citizens.
buildupcountrylifequalitytso-life
It is the one event in my life of which I am most ashamed and I have long feared would be made public.
thepublictso-life
I inherited a sick economy and passed on a sound one. But one abiding regret for me is that, in between, I did not have the resources to put in place the educational and social changes about which I cared to much; I made only a beginning, and it was not enough.
changeplacessound
In the next ten years we will have to continue to make changes which will make the whole of this country a genuinely classless society.
changesociety
The Conservative Party must make its choice. Every leader is leader only with the support of his party. That is true of me too. That is why I am no longer prepared to tolerate the present situation. In short, it is time to put up or shut up.
choicethetimestime
Society needs to condemn a little more and understand a little less.
society
The first requirement of politics is not intellect or stamina but patience. Politics is a very long run game and the tortoise will usually beat the hare.
gamegamespolitics
Of course there are regrets. I shall regret always that I found my own authentic voice in politics. I was too conservative, too conventional. Too safe, too often. Too defensive. Too reactive. Later, too often on the back foot.
politics
The politician who never made a mistake never made a decision.
mistakes
I am walking over hot coals suspended over a deep pit at the bottom of which are a large number of vipers baring their fangs.
numbers
Ronnie Barker will forever be remembered as one of the great comic actors.
comics