I think if the monarchy were removed tomorrow, it wouldn't have a huge effect on the national mind-set.

I am sure that all politicians seek the home connection with the voter. But [Margaret Thatcher] carried it to extremes.

People will identify with a persecuted minority without asking themselves what they are identifying with.

My concern is less the monarchy as such than the attempt of a fading colonial power to hang onto grandeur.

I am usually protective of my work, not showing it to anyone until it has been redrafted and polished.

And if a diversion is needed, why not arrest a general? Arthur Dillon is a friend of eminent deputies, a contender for the post of Commander-in-Chief of the Northern Front; he has proved himself at Valmy and in a halfdozen actions since. In the National Assembly he was a liberal; now he is a republican. Isn't it then logical that he should be thrown into gaol, July 1, on suspicion of passing military secrets to the enemy?

It is all very well planning what you will do in six months, what you will do in a year, but it’s no good at all if you don’t have a plan for tomorrow.