British Diplomat Quotes

Matthew Prior

Evelyn Baring, 1st Earl of Cromer

Robert Vansittart, 1st Baron Vansittart

Cecil Spring-Rice

Hugh Elliot

As the chameleon, who is known To have no colours of his own, But borrows from his neighbour's hue His white or black, his green or blue, And struts as much in ready light, Which credit gives him upon sight, As if the rainbow were in tail Settled on him and his heirs male.

It seems as though he [Barack Obama]... has more of an interest, and more of a cultural capacity to reach out across the aisle in America, and to the world as a whole. As a wise man said once, you campaign in poetry and govern in prose...let's now see if he can deliver. Though I think he will soon find out that the vested interests of Washington are too stubborn for a relatively inexperienced politician such as himself to navigate.

Britain will be honoured by historians more for the way she disposed of an empire than for the way in which she acquired it.

David Ormsby-Gore, 5th Baron Harlech

I vow to thee, my country—all earthly things above—
Entire and whole and perfect, the service of my love,
The love that asks no question: the love that stands the test,
That lays upon the altar the dearest and the best:
The love that never falters, the love that pays the price,
The love that makes undaunted the final sacrifice.

Cecil Spring-Rice

If you achieve a voice that will be heard, you should use it to speak up for the voiceless and oppressed. If you possess any power or authority, you must strive to use it to help and empower the powerless.

At the time this hazardous prophecy was made, the huge overgrown Roman Empire was tottering to its fall. Does a similar fate await the British Empire?

Evelyn Baring, 1st Earl of Cromer

The soul of our service is the loyalty with which we execute ordained error.

Robert Vansittart, 1st Baron Vansittart

No sign of purpose can be detected in any part of the vast universe disclosed by our most powerful telescopes.