William Smyth Quotes
The interest of connected nations cannot be entirely reconciled, nor their separate wishes be gratified. Nations must often be reduced to compound with evils, and at last to make such sacrifices as are necessarily accompanied with mortification and regret; but it is for political wisdom to encounter and reconcile men to these evils, to proclaim aloud that on these occasions nothing has happened at variance with the common necessities of our imperfect state. The misfortune is, that nations can never submit to the circumstances of their situation in time, or with any grace or good humor.
William Smyth, 1765-1849, English Historian, Modern History: Volume II
Sourced by: Eigen's Political and Historical Quotations
Russia, from the old Soviet Union days, had the only gas pipeline into Lithuania and took advantage of their monopoly by charging the Lithuanians 15 percent more than they charged other European nations where the Russians had some energy competition. The Lithuanians, decided to tie up a very large vessel at an island in their harbor to which Liquid Natural Gas (LGN) could be delivered by ship and converted to gaseous form and piped onto the mainland to provide competition for the Russians. However, the island was a bird sanctuary that was not supposed to be used for anything that might change the ecological balance of the island. This quotation shows that in some circumstances, environmentalists are willing to compromise to balance the benefits and costs.
In a NATO military operation, there is one NATO Supreme Commander but each nation has a minister for NATO. All significant decisions must be consented to be this group. But each of those is a representative of a different political government. Clark was masterful at this diplomatic side of the war just as Dwight Eisenhower was in WWII. Eisenhower had bigger egos to content with—Churchill, Roosevelt, Stalin, De Gaulle, but Clark had many more counties who could each veto actions.
During the 1987 U.S. - Russian summit meeting in Washington DC police cracked down to scatter the prostitutes who usually worked the area frequented by the summit participants: a prostitute's advocacy group
William Smyth (or Smith) was Bishop of Coventry and Lichfield from 1493 to 1496 and then Bishop of Lincoln until his death. He held political offices, the most important being Lord President of the Council of Wales and the Marches. He became very wealthy and was a benefactor of a number of institutions. He was a co-founder of Brasenose College, Oxford and endowed a grammar school in the village of his birth in Lancashire.
