“Gandhi was only minding his own business when he took a walk to get some salt and ended up overthrowing the British Empire. You can't set out to overthrow an empire, but if you have to get some salt then get some salt. If you have to write some independent songs that are honest, just write them. If you have to do a day job stacking shelves, so be it.” IfsWritingJobsSongWalksHonestIndependentBritishEmpiresSaltShelvesOwn BusinessBritish EmpireDay JobsStacking Author:David Knopfler
“My British publisher has this independent press. It's pretty small; they actually won last year. And she's got this great energy, and she's fiercely independent, and you know this book was a hard sell. No one wanted to buy this book. But she did, and so it's paid off for her, I hope.” KnowsYearsBookHardWantedLastsEnergyPaidIndependentSellsPressesBritishLast YearPublishersPaid Off Author:Paul Beatty
“The Egba kingdom was one of the very last to be ceded to the British protectorate. It remained almost an independent entity within what is now known as Nigeria, simply because of its own traditional structure of governance.” LastsKnownIndependentStructureBritishKingdomsTraditionalEntityGovernanceNigeria Author:Wole Soyinka
“Hassan and I looked at each other. Cracked up. The Hindi kid would soon learn what the British learned earlier in the century, and what the Russians would eventually learn by the late 1980's: that Afghans are an independent people. Afghans cherish customs but abhor rules. And so it was with kite fighting. The rules were simple: No rules. Fly your kite. Cut the opponents. Good luck.” PeopleKidsFightingSimpleCuttingCenturyLateIndependentLuckBritishOpponentsCustomsCherishAfghanistanGood LuckCrackedHindiKitesHassan Book:The Kite Runner: Rejacketed Source: The Kite Runner: Rejacketed
“Famines are easy to prevent if there is a serious effort to do so, and a democratic government, facing elections and criticisms from opposition parties and independent newspapers, cannot help but make such an effort. Not surprisingly, while India continued to have famines under British rule right up to independence... they disappeared suddenly with the establishment of a multiparty democracy and... a free press and an active political opposition constitute the best early-warning system a country threaten by famines can have.” IfsCountryHelpingGovernmentPoliticalEasyPartyEffortDemocracySeriousCriticismIndiaIndependentElectionIndependencePressesDemocraticBritishActiveNewspapersOppositionWarningEstablishmentFamineFree PressDemocratic GovernmentOpposition PartiesBritish Rule Author:Amartya Sen
“We have the character of an island nation: independent, forthright, passionate in defence of our sovereignty. We can no more change this British sensibility than we can drain the English Channel. And because of this sensibility, we come to the European Union with a frame of mind that is more practical than emotional.” MindCharacterNationsEmotionalIndependentUnionsPassionateBritishPracticalsIslandsSensibilitySovereigntyDefenceDrainsEuropean UnionFrame Of Mind Author:David Cameron
“That these united colonies are, and of right ought to be, free and independent states; that they are absolved from all allegiance to the British crown; and that all political connection between them and the State of Great Britain is, and ought to be, totally dissolved.” StatesPoliticalUnitedOughtConnectionsIndependentIndependenceBritishBritainCrownsDeclaration4th Of JulyAllegianceColonyDeclaration Of IndependenceGreat BritainUnalienable RightsHappy 4th Of July4th Of July MilitaryPolitical Independence Author:Richard Henry Lee