Never in the history of human credit has so much been owed.

There are dangers in consensus: it could be an attempt to satisfy people holding no particular views about anything. ... No great party can survive except on the basis of firm beliefs about what it wants to do.

[On being asked how many Mrs. Thatchers there were:] Oh, three at least. There is the intellectual one, the intuitive one and the one at home.

[On George H.W. Bush:] By 1990 I had learned that I had to defer to him in conversation and not to stint the praise. If that was what was necessary to secure Britain's interests and influence, I had no hesitation in eating a little humble pie.

Naturally, it is with some temerity that the pupil speaks before the master, because you know more about the Common Market than anybody.

Let us never forget this fundamental truth: The State has no source of money other than the money people themselves earn.

I'm not a good butcher but I've had to learn to carve the joint. People expect a new look.