After a long life I have come to the conclusion that when all the Establishment is united it is always wrong.

It's no use crying over spilt summits.

A Foreign Secretaryand this applies also to a prospective Foreign Secretaryis always faced with this cruel dilemma. Nothing he can say can do very much good, and almost anything he may say may do a great deal of harm. Anything he says that is not obvious is dangerous; whatever is not trite is risky. He is forever poised between the cliche and the indiscretion.

I was determined that no British government should be brought down by the action of two tarts.

Memorial services are the cocktail parties of the geriatric set.

At home, you always have to be a politician; when you're abroad, you almost feel yourself a statesman.

After long experience of politics, I have never found that there is any inhibition caused by ignorance as regards criticism.