Lord Palmerston

"The function of government is to calm, not to excite the passions of the people."

"I therefore fearlessly challenge the verdict which this House is going to give."

"Politics is the art of the possible."

"The British people are as much attached to their freedom and independence as any people in the world."

"Expenditure depends on events, and cannot be estimated with certainty."

"We have seen the light, and the people of the world can see it too."

"A man may build himself a throne of bayonets, but he cannot sit on it."

"I hold that the great nations of the world are rapidly assuming conditions which must soon make them either friends or enemies."

"It is a great advantage to a President, and at this crisis for a singularly important one, to have a Secretary of State who is wise, prudent, courteous, and eminently patriotic."

"The task of the Government is not to make judgments about the correctness of various ideologies."

"We have no eternal allies, and we have no perpetual enemies. Our interests are eternal and perpetual."

"The goodness of a government is to be measured by the character of the men it appoints to office."

"England does not love coalitions."

"One cannot fight against the future. Time is on our side."

"Die, my dear? Why, that's the last thing I shall do!"

"I should wish if possible to leave the world a little better than I found it."

"The man who is guided by principles and not by circumstances will not be caught unprepared."

"There is no greater calamity which can befall a nation than the loss of national pride and self-respect."

"The spread of education is the most effective weapon against the advance of fanaticism and superstition."

"A man may build himself a throne of bayonets, but he cannot sit on it."

"There are many things that are impossible to contend against as the force of enthusiasm."

"Wars are often undertaken because generals want to exercise their profession."

"I believe that the working man of England is as much opposed to war as you are."

"Whatever happens will be for the worse, and therefore it is in our interest that as little should happen as possible."

"The world is growing older and wiser."

"It is a curious thing that I have the satisfaction of knowing that the administration conducted by you has been in accordance with the opinion of the Crown."

"The maintenance of peace in the world is the highest duty of every Christian and every civilised man."

"I have consistently pursued the interests of this country."

"The purpose of government is to insure that the strong shall not oppress the weak."

"We live in an age of great improvement and innovation."