"Let sleeping
dogs lie.”
"Have I given
any symptoms of
an avaricious
disposition?
Have I obtained
any grants from
the crown since
I have been
placed at the
head of the
treasury? Has
my conduct
been different
from that which
others in the
same station
would have
followed?”
"If they are
really persuaded
that the army is
annually
established
by me, that I
have the sole
disposal of
posts and
honours, that I
employ this
power in the
destruction
of liberty
and the
diminution
of commerce,
let me awaken
them from
their delusion.”
"But I have
the satisfaction,
at the same time,
to reflect that
the impression
to be made
depends upon
the consistency
of the charge
and the motives
of the prosecutors.'”
"Oh, do not
read history,
for that I know
must be false.”
"All [those] men
have their price.”
"The very idea
of true
patriotism
is lost, and the
term has been
prostituted to
the very worst
of purposes.
A patriot, sir!
Why, patriots
spring up
like mushrooms!”
― Sir Robert Walpole, 1676-1745, from 1721 he was the first Prime Minister of Great Britain
― He [Walpole] was an honorable man and a sound Whig. He was not, as the Jacobites and discontented Whigs of his time have represented him, and as ill-informed people still represent him, a prodigal and corrupt minister.”
– Edmund Burke