Linda Colley Quotes

I have not become the King's First Minister in order to preside over the liquidation of the British Empire.

It does mean, if this is the idea, the end of Britain as an independent European state ... it means the end of a thousand years of history.

The Crown as a symbol of sovereignty encourages British Canadians to ignore their own failure to build a united nation by allowing them an illusory participation in a history and a greatness not properly theirs.

On you, it primarily rests whether Ireland shall remain an integral portion of a great empire, sharing in its glory … or whether … Ireland shall become the focus and the center of foreign intrigue and deadly conspiracy.

I don't feel we need to be independent for me to feel confident in my Scottish identity. I think Scotland is pretty comfortable in its identity. We won't need independence to preserve it... if we don't become independent, it won't disappear; it isn't under existential threat.

First and foremost, Scotland is my home, and I do consider myself Scottish, but I also feel very British, and I hope that Scotland stays within the Union. I have a real concern about independence.

I feel incredibly passionate about Scotland not becoming an independent country.

Before they became Americans, most white inhabitants of the 13 colonies considered themselves British. It was predictable, therefore, that they would lust after empire, because this was exactly what their counterparts on the other side of the Atlantic also did.

The European Union is robbing us of our national identities, our nation states.

I'm Scottish, but I also feel British at that same time.

Where a country lies is a subjective decision and only in part a product of its own desire. Much, if not most, is determined by what others believe about it.

Some time ago, the United States was an English colony. If an Englishman were asked if the United States would be independent, he would have said no, that it would always be an English colony.

The British especially have no excuse for forgetting that empire is a most complex and persistent beast. And it has claws.

The Brexit campaign was transformed from a fringe eccentricity into a mass movement by a handful of people who decided to make it into an argument about identity.

But the European Union does not have a concept of national identity. It was set up to abolish that idea, not to abolish German national identity because that was trying to save itself.

We are not quitters. Britain has always gone out there; we have probably been more influential than any other country in shaping our world and the way it has thought about itself, the way we interact as nations.

Britain has a great sense of its own national pride. It's like the monarchy is the embodiment of that pride.

My family has always been proud of being British.

The story of the British empire helps to explain the roots of most British people: white, black, and Asian.

Europe is my home, Europe is my continent. Europe is where we live. The European Union is a political bureaucratic organization that took away our identity and our national sovereignty. So, I would get rid of the European Union and be a nation-state again.

The State of Israel is a state that was formed before the people were even in it. You have to understand: In India, in Burma, in Pakistan - all of the people were already there. Their problem was for the English to leave so they could be independent.

Let's be clear: a nationalist is not a patriot.

Never forget that it sometimes takes a foreigner's eye to capture Britain most clearly.

It's unimaginable to meet a Pole or a German who does not know about the history of their country. But lots of English people don't know the difference between Britain and England.

Nationalism is a tool increasingly used by leaders to bolster their authority, especially amid difficult economic and political conditions.