You have to give the electorate a tune they can whistle.

If in the words which the Secretary of State has just used, the use of a nuclear weapon is to be avoided 'at all costs'. what is the point of having one?

People are disposed to mistake predicting troubles for causing troubles and even for desiring troubles.

You have to give the electorate a tune they can whistle.

Lift the curtain and 'the State' reveals itself as a little group of fallible men in Whitehall, making guesses about the future, influenced by political prejudices and partisan prejudices, and working on projections drawn from the past by a staff of economists.

The supreme function of statesmanship is to provide against preventable evils.

If my ship sails from sight, it doesn't mean my journey ends, it simply means the river bends.