Robert Gascoyne-Cecil, 3rd Marquess of Salisbury Quotes
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The just Nemesis which generally decrees that partisans shall be forced to do in office precisely that which they most loudly decried in opposition.
Robert Gascoyne-Cecil, 3rd Marquess of Salisbury
[Whitehall] will create business for itself surely as a new railway will create traffic.
Robert Gascoyne-Cecil, 3rd Marquess of Salisbury
We do not care to scrutinise too closely, the moral boundary which separates a reckless hustings pledge from premeditated fraud.
Robert Gascoyne-Cecil, 3rd Marquess of Salisbury
It was a part of a budget which even three months had proved to be a mass of miscalculation; it was the pet scheme of a cosmopolitan school who love England little, and whom England loves less, whose sympathies are half-American and half-French; and it was the first application of a theory of combined taxation and reform, according to which the poor were exclusively to fix the revenue which the rich were exclusively to pay.
Robert Gascoyne-Cecil, 3rd Marquess of Salisbury
I have for so many years entertained a firm conviction that we were going to the dogs that I have got to be quite accustomed to the expectation.
Robert Gascoyne-Cecil, 3rd Marquess of Salisbury
It's difficult enough to go around doing what is right without going around trying to do good.
Robert Gascoyne-Cecil, 3rd Marquess of Salisbury
Parliament is a potent engine, and its enactments must always do something, but they very seldom do what the originators of these enactments meant. [Therefore most legislation] will have the effect of surrounding the industry which it touches with precautions and investigations, inspections and regulations, in which it will be slowly enveloped and stifled.
Robert Gascoyne-Cecil, 3rd Marquess of Salisbury
Whatever happens will be for the worse, and therefore it is in our interest that as little should happen as possible.
Robert Gascoyne-Cecil, 3rd Marquess of Salisbury
I had secretly indulged the hope that we should be beaten in this election. A spell in Opposition is so good for bracing up the Conservative fibre of our party.
Robert Gascoyne-Cecil, 3rd Marquess of Salisbury
In this country we have got to look upon Budget promises as made of the same stuff as lovers' oaths.
Robert Gascoyne-Cecil, 3rd Marquess of Salisbury
The result of recent experience is that 'if you wish to keep a secret you must say nothing 1. To Cabinet Ministers. 2. To Foreign Diplomats. 3. To the War Office'.
Robert Gascoyne-Cecil, 3rd Marquess of Salisbury
To defend a bad policy as an 'error of judgement' does not excuse it—the right functioning of a man's judgement is his most fundamental responsibility.
Robert Gascoyne-Cecil, 3rd Marquess of Salisbury
We are part of the community of Europe and we must do our duty as such.
Robert Gascoyne-Cecil, 3rd Marquess of Salisbury
It is clear enough that the traditional Palmerstonian policy [of British support for Ottoman territorial integrity] is at an end.
Robert Gascoyne-Cecil, 3rd Marquess of Salisbury
As a rule I observe that the places where we win seats are the places where no Tory Leader has spoken.
Robert Gascoyne-Cecil, 3rd Marquess of Salisbury
If you consider the position of the Russians ethically, it is as bad as can be. Negotiating with them is like catching soaped eels.
Robert Gascoyne-Cecil, 3rd Marquess of Salisbury
The perils of change are so great the promise of the most hopeful theories is so often deceptive, that it is frequently the wiser part to uphold the existing state of things, if it can be done, even though, in point of argument, it should be utterly indefensible... Resistance is folly or heroism—a virtue or a vice—in most cases, according to the probabilities there are of its being successful.
Robert Gascoyne-Cecil, 3rd Marquess of Salisbury
Conciliatory legislation only conciliates when there is a full belief on the part of those with whom you are dealing that you are acting on a principle of justice and not on motives of fear.
Robert Gascoyne-Cecil, 3rd Marquess of Salisbury
... institutions like the House of Lords must die, like all other organic beings, when their time comes.
Robert Gascoyne-Cecil, 3rd Marquess of Salisbury
The struggle for power in our day lies not between Crown and people, or between a caste of nobles and a bourgeoisie, but between the classes who have property and the classes who have none.
Robert Gascoyne-Cecil, 3rd Marquess of Salisbury
In making appointments I can count on a Scotchman not falling below a certain level, they may not be very clever, but they are safe not to be stupid. There is a strong resemblance between the Scotch and the Jews. They both begin as fighters, then become very religious and finally are devoted to money-making.
Robert Gascoyne-Cecil, 3rd Marquess of Salisbury