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Polly Toynbee

Polly Toynbee Books

Journalist

Polly Toynbee is a renowned British journalist known for her in-depth reporting and analysis of public policy. Born on December 27, 1946, she has been a contributing editor and columnist for publications such as The Guardian and The Observer since the 1970s.

An Uneasy Inheritance: My Family and Ot...

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“Children know. They breathe it in early, for there's no unknowing the difference between nannies, cleaners, below stairs people and the family upstairs. Children are the go-betweens, one foot in each world, and yet they know very well from the earliest age where they belong, where their destiny lies or, to put it crudely, who pays whom. From a young age their loyalties are torn, betrayal of both inevitable, colluding in complaints with gossip passing each way, upstairs and down...love that nanny, au pair, housekeeper or any paid employee - but never forever. Never equally. Tiny hands steeped young in the essence of class and caste.”

Childhood Class System

Book:An Uneasy Inheritance: My Family and Other Radicals

Source: An Uneasy Inheritance: My Family and Other Radicals

“Feminism is the most revolutionary idea there has ever been. Equality for women demands a change in the human psyche, more profound than anything Marx dreamed of. It means valuing parenthood as much as we value banking.”

Humans Mean Ideas Values Women Feminism Demand Profound Revolutionary Parenthood Banking Women Equality Human Psyche Revolutionary Ideas

Author:Polly Toynbee

“Nothing keeps people together like the exalted conviction that they alone are to be spared that eternal anguish of hell fire to which everyone else will be condemned.”

People Together Hell Fire Eternal Conviction Anguish Exalted Hell Fire

Author:Polly Toynbee

“One in six people suffer depression or a chronic anxiety disorder. These are not the worried well but those in severe mental pain with conditions crippling enough to prevent them living normal lives.”

People Wells Enough Pain Suffering Conditions Normal Anxiety Six Worried Disorder Fierce Severe Normal Life Mental Pain Anxiety Disorder

Author:Polly Toynbee

“It is now possible to quantify people's levels of happiness pretty accurately by asking them, by observation, and by measuring electrical activity in the brain, in degrees from terrible pain to sublime joy.”

People Pain Happiness Joy Levels Brain Terrible Activity Degrees Asking Observation Sublime Electrical Measuring

Author:Polly Toynbee

“This is indeed a clash of civilisations, not between Islam and Christendom but between reason and superstition.”

Reason Islam Superstitions Clash Civilisation Christendom

Author:Polly Toynbee

“So what really works? Treatments in jail do some good, but it's mostly too late: finding a family and a job or just growing older make most prisoners eventually give up crime.”

Giving Jobs Growing Crime Giving Up Findings Late Too Late Treatment Jail Prisoner Growing Older

Author:Polly Toynbee

“Could a government dare to set out with happiness as its goal? Now that there are accepted scientific proofs, it would be easy to audit the progress of national happiness annually, just as we monitor money and GDP.”

Government Would Be Happiness Easy Goal Progress Dare Proof Accepted Gdp

Author:Polly Toynbee

“Openness about death has led to greater care about all aspects of dying.”

Care Greater Dying Aspect Openness Death And Dying

Author:Polly Toynbee

“Most people come to fear not death itself, but the many terrible ways of dying.”

People Way Dying Terrible Death And Dying Fear Not

Author:Polly Toynbee

“There is all the difference in the world between teaching children about religion and handing them over to be taught by the religious.”

World Children Religion Differences Religious Teaching Taught Teaching Children Handing Over

Author:Polly Toynbee

“The pens sharpen – Islamophobia! No such thing. Primitive Middle Eastern religions, and most others, are much the same – Islam, Christianity and Judaism all define themselves through disgust for women's bodies.”

Body Christianity Middle Islam Pens Disgusting Primitive Eastern Judaism Women's Bodies Islamophobia Christianity And Judaism

Author:Polly Toynbee

“Islam, Christianity and Judaism all define themselves through disgust of women's bodies.”

Body Christianity Islam Disgusting Judaism Women's Bodies Islamophobia Christianity And Judaism

Author:Polly Toynbee

“Thresholds of pain, indignity and incapacity are entirely personal.”

Pain Transformation Threshold Incapacity Indignity

Author:Polly Toynbee

“But how odd that in this heathen nation of empty pews, where churches' bare, ruined choirs are converted into luxury loft living, a Labour government - yes, a Labour government - is deliberately creating a huge expansion of faith schools.”

Government School Faith Nations Church Huge Creating Empty Luxury Odd Labour Expansion Ruined Choir Converting Heathen Church Choir

Author:Polly Toynbee

“The strongest predictor of unhappiness is anyone who has had a mental illness in the last 10 years. It is an even stronger predictor of unhappiness than poverty - which also ranks highly.”

Years Lasts Poverty Stronger Illness Mental Illness Unhappiness Strongest

Author:Polly Toynbee

“Crime is only the worst example, but it is a paradigm for other Labour policy disasters. No one tells the voters that crime is falling: let them stay scared senseless.”

Fall Worst Crime Policy Example Scared Disaster Labour Voters Paradigm

Author:Polly Toynbee

“But instead of standing up for reason, our government is handing education over to the world of faith.”

World Reason Government Education Standing Handing Over

Author:Polly Toynbee

“Is anyone serious about the politics of happiness? David Cameron dipped a toe in the water, using the word lightly, but denying the hard policies it implies. Labour shies away from it, but should take up the challenge.”

Should Hard Happiness Water Challenges Policy Serious Labour Toes Cameron

Author:Polly Toynbee

“Inequality makes everyone unhappy, the poor most of all, and that is well within the remit of the state. More money gives less extra happiness the richer we get, yet we are addicted to earning and spending more every year.”

Giving Years Wells States Happiness Poor Spending Unhappy Inequality Extras More Money Earning

Author:Polly Toynbee

“Happiness is a real, objective phenomenon, scientifically verifiable. That means people and whole societies can now be measured over time and compared accurately with one another. Causes and cures for unhappiness can be quantified.”

People Mean Real Whole Happiness Causes Objectives Cures Unhappiness Phenomenon Mean People

Author:Polly Toynbee

“But the single overwhelming reason why jails are bursting is longer sentences given for more crimes.”

Reason Given Crime Sentences Reason Why Jail Overwhelming Bursting

Author:Polly Toynbee

“Working lives are for the state to influence. Unemployment makes people unhappy. So does instability.”

People Doe States Influence Unhappy Unemployment Instability Working Life

Author:Polly Toynbee

“In the polls, over 80% support the right to die and have done for the last 25 years. Even 80% of practising Catholics and Protestants support it, plus 76% of Church Times readers.”

Years Done Lasts Dies Church Support Reader Catholic Plus Polls Protestants Right To Die

Author:Polly Toynbee

“People want the right to die at a time of their own choosing. Too many families have watched helplessly as a relative dies slowly, longing for death.”

People Want Dies Longing Relative Longing For Death Right To Die

Author:Polly Toynbee

“The best care on earth cannot prevent us all dying in the end.”

Ends Care Earth Dying

Author:Polly Toynbee

“My mother begged doctors to end her life. She was beyond the physical ability to swallow enough of the weak morphine pills she had around her. When she knew she was dying I promised to make sure she could go at a time of her choosing, but it was impossible. I couldn't help.”

Ends Enough Helping Mother Ability Impossible Dying Weak Doctors Pills Morphine Physical Ability

Author:Polly Toynbee

“How do you make any sense of history, art or literature without knowing the stories and iconography of your own culture and all the world's main religions?”

World Art Stories Culture Literature Knowing Iconography

Author:Polly Toynbee

About the Author

Born: December 27, 1946
Known for: Journalist
Quotes: 28

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