William Lamb, 2nd Viscount Melbourne Quotes

I don't have to wait until the next morning to regret something I did that was kinda dumb.

I did irresponsible things when I was young and irresponsible.

We [Republicans] have to fight this battle [against slavery] upon principle alone, so I hope those with whom I am surrounded have principle enough to nerve themselves for the task, and leave nothing undone that can fairly be done to bring about the right result.

Nothing is more perilous than truth in a world that lies.

Of course I'm crazy, but that doesn't mean I'm wrong

That crack-brained harlequin and semi-lunatic, George Francis Train! He is as destitute of principle as he is of sense, and is fast gravitating toward a lunatic asylum. He may be of use in drawing an audience; but so would a kangaroo, a gorilla, or a hippopotamus.

We shall strive for perfection. We shall not achieve it immediately--but we still shall strive. We may make mistakes--but they must never be mistakes which result from faintness of heart or abandonment of moral principle.

The wisest man preaches no doctrines.

Base thy life on principle, not on rules.

Leadership is not manifested by coercion, even against the resented. Greatness is not manifested by unlimited pragmatism, which places such a high premium on the end justifying any means and any methods.

Every time I have done things for political reasons, I have regretted it. Every time I have done what I thought was right, it has come out all right in the end.

Never, for the sake of peace and quiet, deny your convictions.

Loyalty to petrified opinion never yet broke a chain or freed a human soul in this world--and never will.

Independence .... is loyalty to one's best self and principles, and this is often disloyalty to the general idols and fetishes.

Beholden to nobody Wilson had risen to his position through brainpower, wedding the complexity of his intellect with the simplicity of his faith, placing principles before politics, he followed his conscience, never first checking public opinion

We have the right to be idiots.

Harold is a bastard, but he is a genius.

The British do not expect happiness …. They do not want to be happy; they want to be right.

Anyone who has been obsessed or been in a mad love affair, sometimes you don't make the right decisions.

You defend the truth no matter what.

I never learned all the things you're not supposed to do; I just do what makes the most sense.

Just do what you want to do, and who cares what people think. That's always been my thing.

Being a Deol for me is to be honest; walking with my head held high and never having to bow in front of injustice.

For me, I don't have a loyalty to a set of ideals.

When you start rushing into things, that's when you get some deals that may not be the right ones.