RAMSAY MACDONALD

We know that he has, more than any other man, the gift of compressing the largest amount of words into the smallest amount of thought.

The Government are defeated by thirty votes and then the Prime Minister rises in his place, utterly unabashed, the greatest living master of falling without hurting himself, and airily assures us that nothing has happened!

Sit down, man. You're a bloody tragedy.

... sufficient conscience to bother him, but not sufficient to keep him straight.

A settlement of relations between the two countries will assist in the revolutionizing of the international and British proletariat not less than a successful rising in any of the working districts of England, as the establishment of close contact between the British and Russian proletariat, the exchange of delegations and workers, etc. will make it possible for us to extend and develop the propaganda of ideas of Leninism in England and the Colonies

A sheep in sheep's clothing.

In youth one believes in democracy, later on, one has to accept it.

The people of this country do not mind fornication but they loathe adultery.

Society goes on and on and on. It is the same with ideas.

We hear war called murder. It is not; it is suicide.

Let them [France and Germany] especially put their demands in such a way that Great Britain could say that she supported both sides.

If Germany surrendered to the forces of revolution either of the Left or to Right the state of Europe [would be] full of very ominous prospects.

National pride may be a valuable possession, but when it becomes consciousness of racial superiority it ceases to be an Imperial virtue.

We have all taken risks in the making of war. Isn't it time that we should take risks to secure peace?

Wars are popular. Contractors make profits; the aristocracy glean honour.

It is not God but the Devil who is in charge of the international situation and those who are working for God in it are poor servants if all they do is worship God and neglect their duty to cincumvent the Devil.

There has been no crime committed by statesmen of this character without those statesman appealing to the nations' honour. We fought the Crimean War because of our honour. We rushed to South Africa because of out honour. The Right Hon. Gentleman (Sir Edward Grey) is appealing to us today because of our honour. What is the use of talking about coming to the aid of Belgium, when, as a matter of fact, you are engaging in a whole European War which is now going to leave the map of Europe in the position it is in now?

The people of this country do not mind fornication but they loathe adultery.

Society goes on and on and on. It is the same with ideas.

Let them [France and Germany] especially put their demands in such a way that Great Britain could say that she supported both sides.

National pride may be a valuable possession, but when it becomes consciousness of racial superiority it ceases to be an Imperial virtue.

When I was a visitor to a lunatic asylum I always noticed how well the worst lunatics looked.

Wars are popular. Contractors make profits; the aristocracy glean honour.

If Germany surrendered to the forces of revolution either of the Left or to Right the state of Europe [would be] full of very ominous prospects.

The memories of the last War will grow dim. The world will get back into the old rut, familiar professions and piety about peace will again soothe us to sleep, and the various countries will once more base their security upon military preparation. So they will all, in the end, find themselves drifting hopelessly upon those currents that make for war...And remember what the next war will be like. The old lines which divide combatants from non-combatants, the weak and the diseased from the strong and the robust, men from women and children, will all be obliterated and civilization itself assailed, and from sea and sky will be brought to a heap of ruins.

In youth one believes in democracy, later on, one has to accept it.

We have all taken risks in the making of war. Isn't it time that we should take risks to secure peace?

Golf is to me what his Sabine farm was to the poet Horace - a solace and an inspiration.

It is not God but the Devil who is in charge of the international situation and those who are working for God in it are poor servants if all they do is worship God and neglect their duty to cincumvent the Devil.

We shall never be able to effect physical disarmament until we have succeeded in effecting moral disarmament.

The trade-unionist has the same limitation imposed upon him as the capitalist. He cannot advance his interests at the expense of society.

We hear war called murder. It is not; it is suicide.

The man who saves time by galloping loses it by missing his way; the shepherd who hurries his flock to get them home spends the night on the mountain looking for the lost; economy does not consist in haste, but in certainty.