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Britons Quotes

“These great Nordic incursions were to result in the marginalization of the once semi-autonomous Pictish, English and North British Princedoms that had preceded the arrival of the Norsemen on British soil. And, as they disappeared beneath the onslaught of the Viking Hosts, the ancient bardic traditions, which had once been succoured by these previously distinct ethnic groups, gradually became intertwined with one another as a result of widespread migration, inter-marriage and cross fertilization; the ultimate legacy of which was the perpetuation of the fragmentary remains of the ancient traditions which were to come to adorn the ballads that the Laird of Abbotsford himself collected, amongst the eighteenth century descendants of these ancient peoples.”

BritainVikingsBardsEthnic GroupsBritonsWalter ScottPictsAnglo Saxon EnglandBorder Ballads
Book:The Lay of the Last Minstrel: Sir Walter Scott and the Border Minstrel Tradition
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“On my desk is an appeal from the National Museum of American Jewish History in Philadelphia. It asks me to become a sponsor and donor of this soon-to-be-opened institution, while an accompanying leaflet has enticing photographs of Bob Dylan, Betty Friedan, Sandy Koufax, Irving Berlin, Estee Lauder, Barbra Streisand, Albert Einstein, and Isaac Bashevis Singer. There is something faintly kitsch about this, as there is in the habit of those Jewish papers that annually list Jewish prize-winners from the Nobel to the Oscars. (It is apparently true that the London Jewish Chronicle once reported the result of a footrace under the headline 'Goldstein Fifteenth.') However, I think I may send a contribution. Other small 'races' have come from unpromising and hazardous beginnings to achieve great things—no Roman would have believed that the brutish inhabitants of the British Isles could ever amount to much—and other small 'races,' too, like Gypsies and Armenians, have outlived determined attempts to eradicate and exterminate them. But there is something about the persistence, both of the Jews and their persecutors, that does seem to merit a museum of its own.”

RaceUnited StatesBigotryPhiladelphiaJewsArmeniansAntisemitismBritonsArmenian GenocideAlbert EinsteinRomansGypsiesBob DylanBritish IslesBetty FriedanAmerican JewsBarbra StreisandEstee LauderIrving BerlinIsaac Bashevis SingerSandy Koufax
Book:Hitch 22: A Memoir
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“As Walter Scott showed, one could preserve the most intense passion for Caledonia stern and wild, one's own, one's native land, while rejoicing in the triumphs of the British armed forces over Napoleon and expressing devout loyalty to the Hanovarian dynasty, which, despite the madness of George III and the profligacy of his son and heir, had come to represent for Britons not only the virtues of sturdy monarchy under the sublime Constitution, but, most improbably, family values.”

ScotlandMonarchyFamily ValuesBritonsWalter ScottGeorge IvGeorge IiiHouse Of Hanover
Book:Irish Pages, Vol. 12, No. 2: Scotland
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“If one takes pleasure in calling the gold standard a "barbarous relic," one cannot object to the application of the same term to every historically determined institution. Then the fact that the British speak English - and not Danish, German, or French - is a barbarous relic too, and every Briton who opposes the substitution of Esperanto for English is no less dogmatic and orthodox than those who do not wax rapturous about the plans for a managed currency.”

IfsFactsSpeakTermPleasurePlansObjectsCallingStandardsGoldInstitutionsBritishDeterminedOrthodoxApplicationCurrencyDogmaticRelicsSpeak EnglishSubstitutionDanishGold StandardBritonsEsperanto
Author:Ludwig von Mises
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“From the time of the North Briton of the unprincipled Wilkes , a notion has been entertained that the moral spine in Scotland is more flexible than in England. The truth however is, that an elementary difference exists in the public feelings of the two nations quite as great as in the idioms of their respective dialects. The English are a justice-loving people, according to charter and statute; the Scotch are a wrong-resenting race, according to right and feeling: and the character of liberty among them takes its aspect from that peculiarity.”

PeopleHas BeensTwoCharacterFeelingsNationsDifferencesJusticeRaceLibertyMoralAspectEnglandNotionScotlandFlexibleSpineCharterScotchDialectStatutesIdiomBritonsTwo Nations
Author:John Galt
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“In the last quarter of the 20th century, Britons have been understandably obsessed with the problem of having too little power in the world. In the third quarter of the 18th century, by contrast, their forebears were perplexed by the problem of having acquired too much power too quickly over too many people.”

PeopleWorldLittlesHas BeensProblemLastsToo MuchCenturyThirdsObsessedQuartersContrast20th CenturyBritish History18th CenturyPerplexedBritonsToo Much Power
Author:Linda Colley
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“Most Britons still lived and died without encountering anyone whose skin colour was different from their own. Slaves, in short, did not threaten, at least as far as the British at home were concerned. Bestowing freedom upon them seemed therefore purely an act of humanity and will, an achievement that would be to Great Britain's economic detriment, perhaps, but would have few other domestic consequences.”

StillsDifferentHomeWould BeHumanityEconomicAchievementConsequenceConcernedSkinsDiedSlaveBritishColourBritainGreat BritainBritish HistoryBritons
Author:Linda Colley
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“It would be wrong to interpret the growth of British national consciousness in this period in terms of a new cultural and political uniformity being resolutely imposed on the peripheries of the island by its centre. For many poorer and less literate Britons, Scotland, Wales and England remained more potent rallying calls than Great Britain, except in times of danger from abroad. And even among the politically educated, it was common to think in terms of dual nationalities, not a single national identity.”

ThinkingWould BePoliticalGrowthTermCommonConsciousnessDangerIdentityPeriodsEnglandBritishEducatedIslandsBritainCentreScotlandNationalityGreat BritainWalesUniformityBritish HistoryPeripheryRallyingNational IdentityBritons
Author:Linda Colley
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“Kitty Kelley's method, already perfected in her unauthorised and unflattering biographies of Frank Sinatra and Nancy Reagan, is to write bestsellers that take what she describes as an 'unblinking look' at their subjects - which might, of course, mean that her eyes are permanently open or permanently closed... the result is a work so bad that Britons cannot realise how fortunate they are in being unable to buy it. The great mistake with this book is not that it has been published in Britain, but that it has actually been published anywhere else.”

WritingLooksMeanHas BeensBookMightEyeCoursesLanguageResultsMistakeSubjectsMethodFortunateBritainRealisingFrankHer EyesBiographiesNancyGreat MistakesKittiesBritons
Author:David Cannadine
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“The average Mexican lives longer now than the average Briton did in 1955. Infant mortality is lower today in Nepal than it was in Italy in 1951. The proportion of Vietnamese living on less than $2 a day has dropped from 90 per cent to 30 per cent in twenty years. The rich have got richer, but the poor have done even better.”

YearsDoneTodayPoorRichTwentiesAverageProportionMortalityCentsInfantMexicanLong LifeLiving OnVietnameseNepalBritonsInfant Mortality
Author:Matt Ridley
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“The British have their own conception of what constitutes the typical American. He must have a flavor of the Wild West about him. He must do spectacular things. He must not be punctilious about dignity, decorum and other refinements characteristic of the real British gentleman. The Yankee pictured by the Briton must be a bustler. If he is occasionally flagrantly indiscreet in speech and action, then he is so much more surely stamped the genuine article. The most typical American the British ever set their eyes on was, in their judgment, Theodore Roosevelt.”

IfsRealEyeActionAmericaSpeechJudgmentDignityWestBritishGenuineGentlemanCharacteristicsConceptionArticlesTypicalFlavorYankeesSpectacularRefinementDecorumWild WestTheodoreBritons
Author:B. C. Forbes
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“I genuinely did not expect more than half our nation to choose to walk away from our long-term allies into the arms of our new friends Vladimir Putin, Marine Le Pen and Donald Trump. Or that they would do so without an economic plan, a trading strategy, or a credible leader, making the average Briton's future more uncertain than any time since the Blitz.”

LongNationsTermWalksHalfLeaderPlansEconomicArmsTrumpStrategyAverageLong TermPensAlliesUncertainTradingMarinePutinCredibleNew FriendsBlitzBritons
Author:Brian Reade
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“Britons are good, though often brutal, colonists where they come into relations with entirely uncivilized tribes whose past is so remote as to be forgotten. But they trample with their heavy boots over the sensitive, delicate susceptibilities of an ancient, highly civilized and cultured nation, such as India.”

PastNationsIndiaRelationForgottenAncientHeavySensitiveCivilizedDelicateBootsBrutalTribesUncivilizedSusceptibilityBritonsColonistsHeavy Boots
Author:Annie Besant
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“Note for Americans and other aliens: Milton Keynes is a new city approximately halfway between London and Birmingham. It was built to be modern, efficient, healthy, and, all in all, a pleasant place to live. Many Britons find this amusing.”

CitiesModernHealthyBuiltNotesLondonAliensPleasantEfficientHalfwayAmusingPlaces To LiveMiltonBirminghamKeynesBritons
Book:Good Omens: The Nice and Accurate Prophecies of Agnes Nutter, Witch
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“So the British, of all ages, still walk the course. On trips to Florida or the American desert, they still marvel, or shudder, at the fleets of electric carts going off in the morning like the first assault wave at the Battle of El Alamein. It is unlikely, for some time, that a Briton will come across in his native land such a scorecard as Henry Longhurst rescued from a California club and cherished till the day he died. The last on its list of local rules printed the firm warning "A Player on Foot Has No Standing on the Course."”

FirstsStillsAgeLastsCoursesWalksMorningPlayerFeetLandBattleStandingDiedGolfWaveClubsBritishListsLocalsDesertFirmCaliforniaNativeWarningElectricFloridaAssaultUnlikelyPrintedCartsNative LandBritonsElectric Car
Author:Alistair Cooke
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“Why do Britons keep stabbing each other in August? Why do seaside hotels burn down in August? Why do children disappear in August, examinations get easier and Heathrow become the world's worst airport? The answer lies not in reality but in appearance. News editors abhor a vacuum. Half an hour of airtime and 10 pages of news must be filled each day, whatever the weather.”

WorldChildrenRealityAmericaLyingHoursAnswersHalfModernWorstEasierNewsPagesFilledAppearanceDisappearWeatherEach DayHotelEditorsAirportsModern WorldExaminationVacuumsAugustStabbingBritons
Author:Simon Jenkins
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“Moreover it is becoming the Britons, whether scientific or unscientific, who boast at all fitting occasions of their aptitude to rule the waves, should know something of the population of their saline empire, especially of those parts of it immediately in contact with their terrestrial domain, and the coasts of the Continent to which our United Kingdom appertains.”

KnowsShouldUnitedBecomingOceanWavePopulationKingdomsContactOccasionsEmpiresExplorationContinentsCoastBoastDomainFittingAptitudeUnited KingdomBritonsOcean Exploration
Book:The Natural History of the European Seas...
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“I have a confession to make. Yesterday, I was responsible for the deaths of millions of Britons. What happened is that MI5 asked me to trail Mehan Asnik, a suspected terrorist, through the streets of London. He had escaped from our security services while infected with a plague virus. Tracking him on CCTV, I swear I had him but then, in the rush-hour bustle, lost him. When the secure mobile rang, it was Harry Pearce at Thames House, chewing me out for the slaughter that had been caused by my mistake.”

HouseLostHoursMistakeMillionsHappenedStreetsSecurityComputerResponsibleLondonYesterdayTerroristSecureConfessionSwearTrailsPlagueMobileVirusesSlaughterMy MistakesChewingTrackingBustleThamesBritonsRush Hour
Author:Mark Lawson
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“We who have lived before railways were made belong to another world. It was only yesterday, but what a gulf between now and then! Then was the old world. Stage-coaches, more or less swift, riding-horses, pack-horses, highwaymen, knights in armor, Norman invaders, Roman legions, Druids, Ancient Britons painted blue, and so forth -- all these belong to the old period. But your railroad starts the new era, and we of a certain age belong to the new time and the old one. We who lived before railways, and survive out of the ancient world, are like Father Noah and his family out of the Ark.”

WorldMadeAgeCertainFatherStagePeriodsHorseBlueAncientCoachesYesterdayErasRidingNow And ThenPacksKnightsArmorAnother WorldRailroadsRailwayLegionOld WorldNew EraArkInvadersDruidsAncient WorldBritonsHighwaymen
Author:William Makepeace Thackeray
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