21 quotes
A great party is not to be brought down because of a scandal by a woman of easy virtue and a proved liar.
If the British public falls for this, I think it would be stark, staring bonkers.
I have never believed in peace at any price.
There is a sense in which all law is nothing more nor less than a gigantic confidence trick.
Conservatives do not believe that political struggle is the most important thing in life... The simplest among them prefer fox-hunting — the wisest religion.
The Case for Conservatism (1947)
Our duty is to make our country so strong that no aggressor will challenge us.
Nothing has shown so clearly the evils of elective dictatorship as the past few weeks, which had culminated in the Lib–Lab pact.
If you can tell me there are no adulterers on the front bench of the Labour Party you can talk to me about Profumo.
Being Conservative is only another way of being British.
Toryism and Tomorrow (1957)
It is an excellent thing that Mr Powell has joined the Ulster Unionists. They have found a new leader to desert, and he a fresh cause to betray.
To our refusal to accept the French view of German duplicity and to our failure to regard the peace treaties as binding, many of our present troubles are due.
The Left was Never Right (1945)
I believe inflation in that sense and on that scale corrupts a country in its moral as well as in its economic life, undermines law and order and threatens our free institutions.
We live under an elective dictatorship, absolute in theory if hitherto thought tolerable in practice. How far it is still tolerable is the question I want to raise.
The first stage in the progress of a society from barbarism to civilization has been the creation of a system, always more or less imperfect, in which anarchy and lawlessness have given place to law and order.
The Case for Conservatism (1947)
There are few more popular or successful institutions than the British monarchy. There are few more important practical guarantees of the happiness or security of this country or the unity of the Commonwealth than its continuance.
The Case for Conservatism (1947)
Moderation is the hallmark of our country and the burden of our Conservative faith. ... [I]n an age of violence the Conservative watchwords must be law, justice, moderation and humanity.
The British people must be strong. If we talk we must be ready to act. We must speak with the authority of the strong because our voice is practically the only voice in the world which will speak out with authority for right.
The Conservative Party is based on its love of country. "The Conservative Party is national," said Disraeli, "or it is nothing." Britain is the first of our political principles, her honour — by which I mean the fulfillment of her moral purpose — her security, her prosperity.
The Case for Conservatism (1947)
What is urgently needed is some limitation on this nominally elected dictatorship. It is here that I join hands with the conventional Bill of Rights enthusiasts, of whom...I am not one.
I believe that the proper way to approach this problem is not to wait until Herr Hitler makes more demands, but tell him we are going to make some demands. I should tell him that if he wanted anything he must first come into the society of nations and play his part.