United Kingdom: Difference between revisions - Wikiquote

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[[File:EU-United Kingdom.svg|thumb|Map of the United Kingdom]]

[[File:Flag of the United Kingdom.svg|thumb|Britain is a complex harmony, not a male voice choir. ~ [[David Cameron]]]]

The [[w:United Kingdom|'''United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland''']] ('''UK'''), ~~also~~commonly known as the '''United Kingdom''' ('''UK''') or '''Britain''', is a [[w:sovereign state|sovereign country]] ~~located~~in north-western [[Europe]], off the north-western coast of the European mainland. The United Kingdom includes the island of [[w:Great Britain|Great Britain]], the north-eastern part of the island of [[Ireland]], and [[w:List of islands of the United Kingdom|many smaller islands]] within the [[w:British Isles|British Isles]]. [[Northern Ireland]] shares [[w:Republic of Ireland–United Kingdom border|a land border]] with the [[Republic of Ireland]], and Great Britain has road and rail links with [[France]] via the [[w:Channel_Tunnel|Channel Tunnel]]. The United Kingdom consists of [[w:Countries of the United Kingdom|four countries]]: [[England]], [[Scotland]], [[Wales]] and [[Northern Ireland]]. The capital is [[London]], a [[w:global city|global city]] and [[w:financial centre|financial centre]] with an urban area population of 10.3 million. The national language of the United Kingdom is [[English language|English]]. Its current head of state is [[Charles III]], its current head of government is Prime Minister [[Keir Starmer]], and its [[Parliament of the United Kingdom|Parliament]] is currently controlled by the [[w:Labour_Party_(United_Kingdom)|Labour Party]].

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==Quotes== ▼

[[#A|A]] – [[#B|B]] – [[#C|C]] – [[#D|D]] – [[#E|E]] – [[#F|F]] – [[#G|G]] – [[#H|H]] – [[#I|I]] – [[#J|J]] – [[#K|K]] – [[#L|L]] – [[#M|M]] – [[#N|N]] – [[#O|O]] – [[#P|P]] – [[#Q|Q]] – [[#R|R]] – [[#S|S]] – [[#T|T]] – [[#U|U]] – [[#V|V]] – [[#W|W]] – [[#X|X]] – [[#Y|Y]] – [[#Z|Z]] – [[#See also|See also]] – [[#External links|External links]]

[[File:Royal Coat of Arms of the United Kingdom.svg|thumb|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. ~ [[Winston Churchill]]]]▼

▲==Quotes==

▲[[File:Royal Coat of Arms of the United Kingdom.svg|thumb|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. ~ [[Winston Churchill]]

[[File:Houses.of.parliament.overall.arp.jpg|thumb|Dear land of hope, thy hope is crowned! God make thee mightier yet! ~ [[w:A. C. Benson|Arthur Benson]]]]

[[File:Britannia on Armada Memorial, Plymouth Hoe.jpg|thumb|Land of hope and glory, mother of the free! How shall we extol thee, who are born of thee? God, who made thee mighty? Make thee mightier yet. ~ [[w: A. C. Benson|Arthur Christopher Benson]] ]]

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[[File:Houses of Parliament, London 1852.jpg|thumb|To cure the British disease with socialism was like trying to cure leukaemia with leeches. ~ [[Margaret Thatcher]]]]

[[File:40 Commando irrigation ditch.jpg|thumb|Some talk of Alexander, and some of Hercules. Of Hector and Lysander, and such great names as these. But of all the world's great heroes, there's none that can compare with the tow-row-row-row-row-row of the British grenadiers! ~ "[[:File:British_Grenadiers.ogg|The British Grenadiers]]"]]

[[File:George III (by Allan Ramsay).jpg|thumb|[T]he twelve or fifteen millions in the British Empire, who, while they possess no electoral rights, are yet persuaded they are freemen, and who are mystified into the notion that they are not political bondmen, by that great juggle of the ‘''English Constitution''’—a thing of monopolies, and Church-craft, and sinecures, armorial hocus-pocus, primogeniture, and pageantry! ~ [[Richard Cobden]]]]

[[File:George III (by Allan Ramsay).jpg|thumb|But where says some is the King of America? I'll tell you Friend, he reigns above, and doth not make havoc of mankind like the Royal Brute of [[w:Kingdom of Great Britain|Britain]]. ~ [[Thomas Paine]]]]

[[File:Surrender of Lord Cornwallis.jpg|thumb|A British vessel, stopping on the way back from India at the Comoro Islands in the Mozambique Channel, finds the native inhabitants in revolt against their Arab masters; and when they ask why they have taken arms, are told, "America is free, could not we be?" ~ [[w:Gijsbert Karel van Hogendorp|Gijsbert Karel, Count van Hogendorp]]]]

~~===B===~~

* Whether it is [[North Korea]], [[w:Sierra_Leone|Sierra Leone]], or [[Zimbabwe]], we’ll show that poor countries are poor for the same reason that [[Egypt]] is poor. Countries such as Great Britain and the [[United States]] became rich because their [[Citizenship|citizens]] overthrew the [[Elite|elites]] who controlled [[power]] and created a society where political rights were much more broadly distributed, where the [[government]] was accountable and responsive to citizens, and where the great mass of people could take advantage of economic opportunities. We’ll show that to understand why there is such [[inequality]] in the world today we have to delve into the past and study the historical dynamics of societies. We’ll see that the reason that Britain is richer than Egypt is because in 1688, Britain (or England, to be exact) had a [[Glorious Revolution|revolution]] that transformed the [[Politics of the United Kingdom|politics]] and thus the [[economics]] of the nation. People fought for and won more [[political rights]], and they used them to expand their economic opportunities. The result was a fundamentally different political and economic trajectory, culminating in the [[Industrial Revolution]].

* Dear land of hope, thy hope is crowned! God make thee mightier yet... By truth maintained, thine empire shall be strong... Land of hope and glory, mother of the free! How shall we extol thee, who are born of thee? God, who made thee mighty? Make thee mightier yet.▼

** [[w:Daron_Acemoglu|Daron Acemoglu]] and [[w:James_A._Robinson|James A. Robinson]], ''Why Nations Fail: The Origins of Power, Prosperity, and Poverty'' (2012)

▲* Dear land of [[hope]], thy hope is crowned! [[God]] make thee mightier yet... By truth maintained, thine [[empire]] shall be strong... Land of hope and glory, mother of the free! How shall we extol thee, who are born of thee? God, who made thee mighty? Make thee mightier yet.

**[[w:A. C. Benson|Arthur Benson]], "[[w:Land of Hope and Glory|Land of Hope and Glory]]" (1902)

*These are some of the first principles of [[natural law]] & [[Justice]], and the great Barriers of all [[Free society|free states]], and of the British Constitution in particular. It is utterly irreconcilable to these principles, and to many other fundamental maxims of the [[common law]], [[common sense]] and [[reason]], that a British house of commons, should have a right, at pleasure, to give and grant the property of the [[Colony|Colonists]]. That these Colonists are well entitled to all the essential rights, liberties and privileges of men and freemen, born in Britain, is manifest, not only from the Colony charter, in general, but acts of the [[Parliament of the United Kingdom|British ~~Parliament…~~Parliament]].... Had the Colonists a right to return members to the British parliament, it would only be hurtful; as from their local situation and circumstances it is impossible they should be ever truly and properly represented there. The inhabitants of this country in all probability in a few years will be more numerous, than those of Great Britain and Ireland together; yet it is absurdly expected by the promoters of the present measures, that these, with their posterity to all generations, should be easy while their property shall be disposed of by a house of commons at three thousand miles distant from them...

**[[w:Boston|Town of Boston]], [http://www.vindicatingthefounders.com/library/rights-of-colonists.html ''The Rights of the Colonists''] (20 November 1772)

*The [[20th century|twentieth century]] saw Britain having to redefine its place in the world. At the beginning of the century, it commanded a world-wide empire as the foremost global power. Two world wars and the end of empire diminished its role, but the UK remains an economic and military power, with considerable political and cultural influence around the world. Britain was the world's first [[industrialized country]]. [[w:Economy_of_the_United_Kingdom|Its economy]] remains one of the largest, but it has for many years been based on service industries rather than on manufacturing.

**British Broadcasting Corporation, [http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-18023389 "United Kingdom country profile: Overview"] (14 May 2015), ''BBC News'', United Kingdom

* Some talk of [[Alexander the Great|Alexander]], and some of [[w:Hercules|Hercules]]. Of [[w:Hector|Hector]] and [[w:Lysander|Lysander]], and such great names as these. But of all the world's great heroes, there's none that can compare with the tow-row-row-row-row-row of the British grenadiers!

**"[[:File:British_Grenadiers.ogg|The British Grenadiers]]" (1750)

*Britain is blessed with a functioning political culture. It is dominated by people who live in [[London]] and who have often known each other since prep school. This makes it gossipy and often incestuous.

** [[David Brooks (journalist)|David Brooks]], [http://www.nytimes.com/2011/05/24/opinion/24brooks.html?_r=1 "Britain Is Working"] (23 May 2011), ''The New York Times'', New York City, New York

* I am constantly filled with admiration at this – at the way you can wander through a town like [[w:Oxford|Oxford]] and in the space of a few hundred yards pass the home of [[Christopher Wren]], the buildings where [[Edmond Halley|Halley]] found [[w:Halley's_comet|his comet]] and [[Robert Boyle|Boyle]] his first law, the track where [[Roger Bannister|Roger Banister]] ran the first sub-four minute mile, the meadow where [[Lewis Carroll]] strolled; or how you can stand on Snow's Hill at Windsor and see, in a single sweep, [[w:Windsor_Castle|Windsor Castle]], the playing fields of Eton, the churchyard where [[Thomas Gray|Gray]] wrote his 'Elegy,' the site ''[[The Merry Wives of Windsor]]'' was first performed. Can there anywhere on earth be, in such a modest span, a landscape more packed with centuries of busy, productive attainment?

** [[Bill Bryson]], as quoted in ''[[w:Notes from a Small Island|Notes from a Small Island]]''

~~===C===~~

*The sound of modern Britain is a complex harmony, not a male voice choir.

** [[David Cameron]], [http://www.theguardian.com/politics/2005/dec/16/conservatives.liberaldemocrats speech aimed at Liberal Democrats: join me in my mission] (16 December 2005)

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*I want to help try and build a more responsible society here in Britain, one where we don't just ask what are my entitlements but what are my responsibilities, one where we don't ask what am I just owed but more what can I give, and a guide for that society that those that can should and those who can't we will always help.

**[[David Cameron]], first speech as Prime Minister, at 10 Downing Street (11 May 2010)

*Britain is a special country. We have so many great advantages: a [[Parliamentary system|parliamentary democracy]] where we resolve great issues about our future through peaceful debate; a great trading nation with our [[science]] and [[Art|arts]], our [[engineering]] and our [[creativity]], respected the world over. And while we are not perfect, I do believe we can be a model of a multiracial, multifaith [[democracy]] where people can come and make a contribution, and rise to the very highest that their talent allows.

**[[David Cameron]], [https://www.americanrhetoric.com/speeches/davidcameronresignationspeech.htm Resignation Speech], 24 June 2016

* I have always said that if [[w:United Kingdom|Great Britain]] were defeated in war I hoped we should find a [[Adolf Hitler|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]], "Mr. Churchill's Reply" in ''[[w:The Times|The Times]]'' (7 November 1938)

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** [[Winston Churchill]], to [[Neville Chamberlain]] in the House of Commons, after the Munich accords (1938)

*We shall not flag or fail. We shall go on to the end, we shall fight in [[France]], we shall fight on the seas and oceans, we shall fight with growing confidence and growing strength in the air, we shall defend our Island, whatever the cost may be, we shall fight on the beaches, we shall fight on the landing grounds, we shall fight in the fields and in the streets, we shall fight in the hills; we shall never surrender, and even if, which I do not for a moment believe, this Island or a large part of it were subjugated and starving, then our Empire beyond the seas, armed and guarded by the [[Royal Navy|British Fleet]], would carry on the struggle, until, in God's good time, the [[New World]], with all its power and might, steps forth to the rescue and the liberation of the Old.

** [[Winston Churchill]], speech in the House of Commons (4 June 1940)

* When I warned ~~[[France|~~them]] that Britain would fight on alone whatever ~~[[France|~~they]] did, ~~[[France|~~their]] generals told [[~~France~~w:Paul_Reynaud|their]] Prime Minister]] and his divided Cabinet, 'In three weeks [[England]] will have her neck wrung like a [[Chickens|chicken]]'. Some chicken! Some neck!

** [[Winston Churchill]], speech to the Canadian Parliament in Ottawa (30 December 1941), as quoted in [https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/0300107986 ''The Yale Book of Quotations''], by Fred R. Shapiro, Yale University Press (2006), p. 153

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** [[Winston Churchill]], address to a joint session of Congress, Washington, D.C. (17 January 1952); reported in ''Winston S. Churchill: His Complete Speeches, 1897–1963'', ed. Robert Rhodes James (1974), vol. 8, p. 8,326

*...the twelve or fifteen millions in the [[British Empire]], who, while they possess no electoral rights, are yet persuaded they are freemen, and who are mystified into the notion that they are not political bondmen, by that great juggle of the ‘''English Constitution''’—a thing of monopolies, and Church-craft, and sinecures, armorial hocus-pocus, primogeniture, and pageantry!

**[[Richard Cobden]], letter to F. Cobden (11 September 1838), quoted in John Morley, ''The Life of Richard Cobden'' (London: T. Fisher Unwin, 1905), p. 130

*I want to take the opportunity to thank the countless numbers of people here in the UK, including the many then-exiled members of the [[African National Congress|ANC]] and the [[w:Communist_Party_of_South_Africa|South African Communist Party]], who built a powerful and exemplary antiapartheid movement in this country. Having traveled here on numerous occasions during the [[1970s]] and the [[1980s]] to participate in antiapartheid events, I thank the women and men who were as unwavering in their commitment to freedom as was [[Nelson Mandela]]. Participation in such solidarity movements here in the UK was as central to my own political formation as were the movements that saved my life.

~~===D===~~

**[[Angela Davis]] December 13 2013 speech included in ''Freedom Is a Constant Struggle: Ferguson, Palestine, and the Foundations of a Movement'' (2015)

*Look at [[England]], whose mighty power is now felt, and for centuries has been felt, all around the world. It is worthy of special remark, that precisely those parts of [[w:Great Britain|that proud island]] which have received the largest and most diversified populations, are to day the parts most distinguished for industry, enterprise, invention and general enlightenment. In Wales, and in the Highlands of Scotland the boast is made of their pure blood, and that they were never conquered, but no man can contemplate them without wishing they had been conquered. They are far in the rear of every other part of the English realm in all the comforts and conveniences of life, as well as in mental and physical development. Neither law nor learning descends to us from the mountains of Wales or from the Highlands of Scotland. The ancient Briton, whom Julius Caesar would not have as a slave, is not to be compared with the round, burly, amplitudinous Englishman in many of his qualities of desirable manhood.▼

▲*Look at [[England]], whose mighty power is now felt, and for centuries has been felt, all around the world. It is worthy of special remark, that precisely those parts of [[w:Great Britain|that proud island]] which have received the largest and most diversified populations, are to day the parts most distinguished for industry, enterprise, invention and general enlightenment. In [[Wales]], and in the [[w:Scottish Highlands|Highlands of Scotland]] the boast is made of their pure blood, and that they were never conquered, but no man can contemplate them without wishing they had been conquered. They are far in the rear of every other part of the English realm in all the comforts and conveniences of life, as well as in mental and physical development. Neither law nor learning descends to us from the mountains of Wales or from the Highlands of [[Scotland]]. The [[w:Celtic Britons|ancient Briton]], whom [[Julius Caesar]] would not have as a [[Slavery|slave]], is not to be compared with the round, burly, amplitudinous [[English people|Englishman]] in many of his qualities of desirable manhood.

**[[Frederick Douglass]], [http://teachingamericanhistory.org/library/document/our-composite-nationality/ "Our Composite Nationality"] (7 December 1869), Boston, Massachusetts

*Five generations ago, Britain was ashamed to write books in her own tongue. Now [[English language|her language]] is spoken in all quarters of the globe.

**[[Frederick Douglass]], [http://teachingamericanhistory.org/library/document/self-made-men/ "Self-Made Men"] (1872)

* The [[w:monarchy of the United Kingdom|British monarchy]] inculcates unthinking [[credulity]] and [[servility]]. It forms a heavy layer on the general encrustation of our unreformed political institutions. It is the gilded peg from which our unlovely system of social distinction and hierarchy depends. It is an obstacle to the objective public discussion of our own history. It tribalises politics. It entrenches the absurdity of the [[w:Hereditary monarchy|hereditary principle]]. It contributes to what sometimes looks like an enfeeblement of the national intelligence, drawing from our [[press]] and even from some of our [[poets]] the sort of degrading and abnegating [[propaganda]] that would arouse contempt if displayed in [[w:List of cults of personality#Zaire|Zaire]] or [[w:Nicolae_Ceau%C8%99escu%27s_cult_of_personality|Romania]]. It is, in short, neither dignified nor efficient...The United States, for example, has never had a [[President of the United States|President]] as bad as [[w:George III of the United Kingdom|George III]], but neither has Britain had a king as admirable as [[George Washington]] (of whom [[William Makepeace Thackeray|William Thackeray]] rightly said that 'his glory will descend to remotest ages' while the memory of the sovereign went the other way).▼

~~===H===~~

▲* The British monarchy inculcates unthinking credulity and servility. It forms a heavy layer on the general encrustation of our unreformed political institutions. It is the gilded peg from which our unlovely system of social distinction and hierarchy depends. It is an obstacle to the objective public discussion of our own history. It tribalises politics. It entrenches the absurdity of the [[w:Hereditary monarchy|hereditary principle]]. It contributes to what sometimes looks like an enfeeblement of the national intelligence, drawing from our press and even from some of our poets the sort of degrading and abnegating propaganda that would arouse contempt if displayed in [[w:List of cults of personality#Zaire|Zaire]] or [[w:Nicolae_Ceau%C8%99escu%27s_cult_of_personality|Romania]]. It is, in short, neither dignified nor efficient...The United States, for example, has never had a President as bad as [[w:George III of the United Kingdom|George III]], but neither has Britain had a king as admirable as [[George Washington]] (of whom William Thackeray rightly said that 'his glory will descend to remotest ages' while the memory of the sovereign went the other way).

**[[Christopher Hitchens]], ''[https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=stfi0I6zcXwC&lpg=PP1&dq=the%20monarchy%20a%20critique&pg=PP1#v=onepage&q=the%20monarchy%20a%20critique&f=false The Monarchy: A Critique of Britain's Favourite Fetish]'' (1990), Random House

* In today's Britain, the idea that there could be a Constitution more powerful - and even sacrosanct - than any crowned head or elected politician (thus abolishing the false antithesis between hereditary monarchs and capricious presidents) is thought of as a breathtakingly new and daring idea...Too many crucial things about this country turn out to be highly recommended because they are 'invisible'. There is the '[[w:Invisible hand|hidden hand']] of the free market, the 'unwritten' [[w: Constitution of the United Kingdom|Constitution]], the 'invisible earnings' of the financial service sector, the 'magic' of monarchy and the 'mystery' of the [[Church of England|Church]] and its claim to the interpretation of revealed truth. When we do get as far as the visible or the palpable, too much of it is deemed secret. How right it is that senior ministers, having kissed hands with the monarch, are sworn to the cult of secrecy by '[[w:Oath_of_Allegiance_(United_Kingdom)#Privy_Counsellor_oath|The Privy Council Oath]]'. How right it is that our major foreign alliance - the '[[w:special relationship|special relationship]]' with the United States - is codified by no known treaty and regulated by no known Parliamentary instrument.

** [[Christopher Hitchens]], ''The Monarchy: A Critique of Britain's Favourite Fetish'' (1990), ''Chatto Counterblasts''

*Deep is the primitive belief that it is the [[Anglo-Saxons]], more than the [[Central Intelligence Agency|CIA]], more even than the [[Jews]], who are the puppet masters of everything that happens in [[Iran]].

** [[Christopher Hitchens]], [http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/fighting_words/2009/06/persian_paranoia.html "Persian Paranoia: Iranian leaders will always believe Anglo-Saxons are plotting against them"], ''Slate'' (June 22, 2009).

* In addition to relative indifference to the fate of the [[Eurozone|euro area]], Britain is more protected because of speculation the [[w:Bank_of_England|central bank]] may intervene directly to finance the [[debt]] ... [[Europe]] is not a cash box, let alone a cashpoint...The British have been particularly shy about the issues of financial [[regulation]], and attentive only to the interests of the [[City of London|City]] – hence their reluctance to see the introduction of a tax on financial transactions and tax harmonisation in Europe.

**[[François Hollande]], [http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2141040/Francois-Hollande-French-president-says-Britain-cares-City.html "New French leader fires a broadside at Britain: You only care about the City of London, says President Hollande"] (8 May 2012), ''Daily Mail''

~~===J===~~

*We shall form to the American union a barrier against the dangerous extension of the British.

**[[Thomas Jefferson]], [http://wiki.monticello.org/mediawiki/index.php/Empire_of_liberty Letter to George Rogers Clark] (25 December 1780)

* The British ministry have so long hired their gazetteers to repeat and model into every form lies about our being in [[anarchy]], that the world has at length believed them, the English nation has believed them, the ministers themselves have come to believe them, & what is more wonderful, we have believed them ourselves. Yet where does this [[Anarchism|anarchy]] exist? Where did it ever exist, except in the single instance of [[w:Massachusetts|Massachusetts]]? And can history produce an instance of a rebellion so honourably conducted? I say nothing of its motives. They were founded in ignorance, not wickedness.

**[[Thomas Jefferson]], in a letter to William S. Smith (13 November 1787), ''The Papers of Thomas Jefferson'', ed. Julian P. Boyd, vol. 12, p. 356 (1955)

*(On Britain’s tilt to the Indo-Pacific: ‘Old theme park’) You know, here’s our old friend – what’s his name – the [[Boris Johnson|British prime minister]] waxing lyrical down there in [[Cornwall]]. I mean, '''Britain is like an old theme park sliding into the [[Atlantic Ocean|Atlantic]] compared to modern [[China]]. China is just going to be huge.'''

~~===K===~~

**[[Paul Keating]], [https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2021/nov/10/it-would-make-a-cat-laugh-key-moments-from-paul-keatings-national-press-club-appearance 'It would make a cat laugh’: key moments from Paul Keating’s National Press Club appearance, ''The Guardian''] (November 10, 2021)

* Great Britain is a republic with a hereditary president, while the United States is a monarchy with an elective king.▼

*We weren’t taught [[Shakespeare]] or [[Milton]] in order to understand our own situation—they were taught as the jewels in [[Victoria of the United Kingdom|Queen Victoria]]’s crown. The point of the [[Colonialism|colonial enterprise]] was that it had all these people to control. Our education was about imprinting on us the greatness of England, the idea that the people who could produce these works were of a superior kind of people...I came to understand that I should separate Shakespeare and all of the rest from [[Benjamin Disraeli|Disraeli]] and [[Horatio Nelson]]—that the British Empire is one thing and literature another. I’ll take everything except [[Rudyard Kipling|Kipling]]. [[Wordsworth]] would have been very upset to know that his wonderful [[Poetry|poems]] were being used as a weapon of empire.

**[[Jamaica Kincaid]] [https://theparisreview.org/interviews/7879/the-art-of-fiction-no-252-jamaica-kincaid Interview] with ''The Paris Review'' (2022)

▲* Great Britain is a [[republic]] with a hereditary [[president]], while the United States is a [[monarchy]] with an elective [[king]].

** ''The Knoxville Journal'' (9 February 1896), as quoted in [https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=wwzqAwAAQBAJ&printsec=frontcover&dq=peter+hays+gries&hl=en&sa=X&ei=HwpZVazmK_LW7Qan_YH4CQ&ved=0CD0Q6AEwBA#v=onepage&q=peter%20hays%20gries&f=false "The Politics of American Foreign Policy"] by [[w:Peter Heys Gries|Peter Heys Gries]], p. 170

* England is an amazing and paradoxical country; there are, in spite of the great emphasis upon "[[democracy]]," all indications of the existence of an [[Aristocracy|aristocratic]] and [[Oligarchy|oligarchic]] rule, yet this generally recognized fact caused little if any human resentment among the ''lower'' classes. […] The tacit and genuine, human ''acceptance'' of aristocratic or at least [[Ruling class|upper class leadership]] gives Britain the right to call itself a "democracy" without being one in reality. Hierarchic feelings always were very strong in England, but the extreme elasticity of the class system has always mitigated the apprehensions if aroused. Nowhere are classes more receptive to new elements, nowhere is it easier to rise socially, yet nowhere are the differences between the classes so marked as in England (with the exception of India and certain sections of the United States).

~~===L===~~

** [[Erik von Kuehnelt-Leddihn]], ''The Menace of the Herd'' (1943), p. 218

*There is no doubt that the treacherous attack has confirmed that Britain and America are acting on behalf of Israel and the Jews, paving the way for the Jews to divide the Muslim world once again, enslave it and loot the rest of its wealth.▼

▲*There is no doubt that the treacherous attack has confirmed that Britain and America are acting on behalf of [[Israel]] and the [[Judaism|Jews]], paving the way for the Jews to divide the [[Muslim world]] once again, enslave it and loot the rest of its wealth.

**[[Osama bin Laden]], regarding Operation Desert Fox (December 1998), as quoted in [http://content.time.com/time/printout/0,8816,17676,00.html ''Time'' magazine interview] (23 December 1998)

*The [[European Union]] and many of its countries, which used to take initiatives in the [[United Nations]] for [[Conflict resolution|peaceful settlements of conflict]], are now one of the most important war assets of the [[NATO|U.S./NATO front]]. Many countries have also been drawn into complicity in breaking [[international law]] through [[~~w:Category:Wars~~War ~~involving~~on ~~NATO~~terror|U.S./U.K./NATO wars]] in Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya, and so on.▼

~~===M===~~

▲*The [[European Union]] and many of its countries, which used to take initiatives in the [[United Nations]] for [[Conflict resolution|peaceful settlements of conflict]], are now one of the most important war assets of the [[NATO|U.S./NATO front]]. Many countries have also been drawn into complicity in breaking [[international law]] through [[w:Category:Wars involving NATO|U.S./U.K./NATO wars]] in Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya, and so on.

**[[Mairead Maguire]] in [https://www.commondreams.org/views/2014/10/14/disturbing-expansion-military-industrial-complex "The Disturbing Expansion of the Military-Industrial Complex"], ''Common Dreams'' (14 October 2014)

* The British [[Tourism|tourist]] is always happy abroad as long as the natives are waiters.

** [[Robert Morley]], ''The Observer'' (20 April 1958), as quoted in [https://books.google.com/books?id=OdBEAAAAYAAJ&q=%22The+British+tourist+is+always+happy+abroad+as+long+as+the+natives+are+waiters.%22&dq=%22The+British+tourist+is+always+happy+abroad+as+long+as+the+natives+are+waiters.%22&hl=en&sa=X&ei=AmQVVcLmHs7YggTFxYHYCw&ved=0CDQQ6AEwBQ ''More Caviar''] (1959), by Art Buchwald. Harper, p. 54

* "...Jirgas operate on centuries-old codes of honor and their tribal code considers women to be property. It was a jirga that decided in 2002 that Mukhtar Mai was to be gang-raped as recompense for a sexual assault committed by her brother...So when the government decided to pass the Alternate Dispute Resolution (ADR) Bill in 2017, it did so knowing fully well that the system of jirgas would gain added legitimacy...What is all the more worrying is the manner in which the mainstreaming of such misogyny by Pakistan has gone unchecked by its biggest aid donors. The United Kingdom’s Department for International Development,.., funding ADR capacity building in tribal areas. Now that Pakistan is a democracy, some have complacently come to believe that progressive policies will automatically be pursued — wishful thinking in a country where minorities have been prosecuted by an all-too-compliant state, afraid of tackling intolerance head on..."

**Basit Mahmood in [https://thediplomat.com/2018/01/pakistans-jirgas-and-womens-rights/ Pakistan’s Jirgas and Women’s Rights, The Diplomat] 2018 January, 04

~~===P===~~

*We were wrong to believe that the British are our friends. You are obsessed solely with your own selfish interests and treat us as a people beyond the pale. But your attitude is a matter of profound disinterest. Your democratic system has already erupted into chaos. We shall soon overtake you and in a decade you will be struggling in our wake. Perhaps then you will remember how you treated us.

**[[Muhammad Reza Pahlavi]], as quoted in ''The Shah and I'' (1991), by Asadollah Alam, I. B. Tauris, p. 237

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** [[Plutarch]], as quoted in ''The Life of [[Julius Caesar]]''

* The whole existence and development of [[capitalism]] in Britain and France between 1885 and 1960 was bound up with [[colonization]], and [[Africa]] played a major role. [[Colonisation of Africa|African colonies]] meant surplus appropriated on a grand scale; they led to innovations and forward leaps in [[technology]] and the organization of capitalist [[enterprise]]; and they buttressed the capitalist system at home and abroad with [[Soldiers|fighting men]]. Sometimes, it appeared that these two principal colonial powers reaped so many colonial benefits that they suffered from “too much of a good thing.”

~~===S===~~

** [[Walter Rodney]], ''How Europe Underdeveloped Africa'' (1972), p. 189

* Most countries are founded in [[conquest]]. Europe, conquest, conquest and more conquest. Look at Britain. Before becoming an empire, it was conquered by the Norman kings of France and earlier by the Romans.▼

*We have been told, to-day, that it was a woman that agitated Great Britain to its very centre, before emancipation could be effected in her colonies. Woman must go hand in hand with man in every great and noble cause, if success would be insured.

**[[Ernestine Rose]] [https://speakingwhilefemale.co/anti-slavery-rose1/ Speech] (August 4, 1853) at the Anniversary of West Indian Emancipation

▲* Most countries are founded in [[conquest]]. Europe, conquest, conquest and more conquest. Look at Britain. Before becoming an empire, it was [[w:Norman_conquest|conquered by the Norman kings of France]] and earlier by the [[Roman Empire|Romans]].

** [[Dinesh D'Souza]], ''[[America: Imagine the World Without Her]]'' (2014)

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**[[Irwin Stelzer]], [https://web.archive.org/web/20050725003941/http://www.weeklystandard.com:80/Content/Public/Articles/000/000/005/871kbaxp.asp "Letter from Londonistan"] (1 August 2005), ''The Weekly Standard''

*The quickest way to understand modern Britain is to look at what ~~LBJ’s~~[[Lyndon B. Johnson|LBJ]]’s [[w:Great_Society|Great Society]] did to the [[African American|black family]] and imagine it applied to the general population.

**[[Mark Steyn]], [https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/1596982799 ''After America: Get Ready for Armageddon''] (2011), Regnery Publishing, pp. 206–206

~~===T===~~

* We shall have to learn again to be one nation, or one day we shall be no nation.

**[[Margaret Thatcher]], [http://www.margaretthatcher.org/document/103926 Conservative Party television broadcast “Winter of Discontent” (January 17, 1979)]

Line 138 ⟶ 148:

**[[Margaret Thatcher]], [http://www.margaretthatcher.org/speeches/displaydocument.asp?docid=105617 Speech to Small Business Bureau Conference (8 February 1984)].

*The significance of the [[Falklands War]] was enormous, both for Britain's self-confidence and for our standing in the world...We had come to be seen by both friends and enemies as a nation which lacked the will and the capability to defend its interests in peace, let alone in war. Victory in the Falklands changed that. Everywhere I went after the war, Britain's name meant something more than it had. The war also had real importance in relations between East and West: years later I was told by a Russian general that the [[Soviet Union|Soviets]] had been firmly convinced that we would not fight for the Falklands, and that if we did fight we would lose. We proved them wrong on both counts, and they did not forget the fact.

**[[Margaret Thatcher]], ''The Downing Street Years'' (1993), pp. 173-4.

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** [[James Thomson (poet)|James Thomson]], ''Alfred: a Masque, II, V.''

*The British have always fought, to be sure. No [[Nations|nation]] on [[Earth]] can be taken seriously in historical circles unless it has had at least one [[war]] with the British; it's like not having an [[w:American_Express|American Express]] card. And yet the very idea of Britain in a contemporary war is a shock. Britain, one feels, fights in [[history]] [[books]] and not on [[Television|TV]].▼

~~===W===~~

▲*The British have always fought, to be sure. No nation on Earth can be taken seriously in historical circles unless it has had at least one war with the British; it's like not having an American Express card. And yet the very idea of Britain in a contemporary war is a shock. Britain, one feels, fights in history books and not on TV.

** [[Gene Wolfe]], "A Few Points About knife Throwing", ''Fantasy Newsletter'' (1983), as reprinted in Gene Wolfe, ''Castle of Days'' (1992)

~~===Z===~~

*UK’s Prime Minister [[Tony Blair]] should hang with the U.S. gang, but who is calling for this? How much longer will the necessary prosecutions wait? Till after these international [[War crimes|war-criminals]] have all gone honored to their graves? Although the [[International Criminal Court]] considered and dismissed possible criminal charges against Tony Blair’s UK Government regarding the invasion and military occupation of Iraq, the actual crime, of invading and militarily occupying a country which had posed no threat to the national security of the invader, was ignored, and the conclusion was that “the situation did not appear to meet the required threshold of the Statute” (which was only “Willful killing or inhuman treatment of civilians” and which ignored the real crime, which was “aggressive war” or “the crime of aggression” — the crime for which Nazis had been hanged at Nuremberg)... We... now have internationally a lawless world (or “World Order”) in which “Might makes right,” and in which there is really no effective international law, at all. This is merely gangster “law,” ruling on an international level. It is what Hitler and his Axis of fascist imperialists had imposed upon the world... this invasion and subsequent military occupation constitutes the very epitome of “aggressive war” — unwarranted and illegal international aggression.

**[https://ahtribune.com/world/north-africa-south-west-asia/iraq/4160-us-must-be-prosecuted.html Eric Zuesse, Why U.S. Must Be Prosecuted for Its War Crimes Against Iraq, ''American Herald Tribune''], (16 May 2020)

==See also==

Line 163 ⟶ 169:

[[Category:United Kingdom| ]]

[[Category:British Empire]]