Maurice Harold Macmillan, 1st Earl of Stockton, OM, PC, FRS was a British Conservative politician who was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1957 to 1963. Caricatured as “Supermac”, he was known for his pragmatism, wit, and unflappability. These Harold MacMillan quotes will motivate you.
Best Harold MacMillan Quotes
- “No man succeeds without a good woman behind him. Wife or mother, if it is both, he is twice blessed indeed.” ~ Harold MacMillan
- “Most of our people have never had it so good.” ~ Harold MacMillan
- “Too many people live too much in the past. The past must be a springboard, not a sofa.” ~ Harold MacMillan
- “It has been said that there is no fool like an old fool, except a young fool. But the young fool has first to grow up to be an old fool to realize what a damn fool he was when he was a young fool.” ~ Harold MacMillan
- “The wind of change is blowing through the continent. Whether we like it or not, this growth of national consciousness is a political fact.” ~ Harold MacMillan
- “History is apt to judge harshly those who sacrifice tomorrow for today.” ~ Harold MacMillan
- “It is, of course, a trite observation to say that we live “in a period of transition.” Many people have said this at many times. Adam may well have made the remark to Eve on leaving the Garden of Eden.” ~ Harold MacMillan
- “I have learned that in all negotiations nothing matters except the will to reach agreement.” ~ Harold MacMillan
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“A man who trusts nobody is apt to be the kind of man nobody trusts.” ~ Harold MacMillan
- “As usual the Liberals offer a mixture of sound and original ideas. Unfortunately none of the sound ideas is original and none of the original ideas is sound.” ~ Harold MacMillan
- “I was determined that no British government should be brought down by the action of two tarts.” ~ Harold MacMillan
- “If people want a sense of purpose they should get it from their archbishop. They should certainly not get it from their politicians.” ~ Harold MacMillan
- “You will find the Americans much as the Greeks found the Romans: great, big, vulgar, bustling people more vigorous than we are and also more idle, with more unspoiled virtues but also more corrupt.” ~ Harold MacMillan
- “A Foreign Secretary and this applies also to a prospective Foreign Secretary is always faced with this cruel dilemma. Nothing he can say can do very much good, and almost anything he may say may do a great deal of harm. Anything he says that is not obvious is dangerous; whatever is not trite is risky. He is forever poised between the cliche and the indiscretion.” ~ Harold MacMillan
- “If you don’t believe in God, all you have to believe in is decency. Decency is very good. Better decent than indecent. But I don’t think it’s enough.” ~ Harold MacMillan
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“Jaw-jaw is better than war-war.” ~ Harold MacMillan
- “Churchill was fundamentally what the English call unstable – by which they mean anybody who has that touch of genius which is inconvenient in normal times.” ~ Harold MacMillan
- “Tradition does not mean that the living are dead, it means that the dead are living.” ~ Harold MacMillan
- “I’d like that translated, if I may.” ~ Harold MacMillan
- “The only quality needed for an MP is the ability to write a good letter.” ~ Harold MacMillan
- “90% of what we did the Press didn’t know about, and 90% of what they did know about they got wrong.” ~ Harold MacMillan
- “After a long life, I have come to the conclusion that when all the Establishment is united it is always wrong.” ~ Harold MacMillan
- “We have not overthrown the divine right of kings to fall down for the divine right of experts.” ~ Harold MacMillan
- “I will not be able to carry the physical burden of leading the Party at the next general election. I hope it will soon be possible for the customary processes of consultation to be carried on within the Party about its future leadership.” ~ Harold MacMillan
- “I have never found criticism is ever inhibited by ignorance.” ~ Harold MacMillan
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“To be alive at all involves some risk.” ~ Harold MacMillan
- “Britain’s most useful role is somewhere between bee and dinosaur.” ~ Harold MacMillan
- “I read a great number of press reports and find comfort in the fact that they are nearly always conflicting.” ~ Harold MacMillan
- “Memorial services are the cocktail parties of the geriatric set.” ~ Harold MacMillan
- “It is a good thing to be laughed at. It is better than to be ignored.” ~ Harold MacMillan
- “It was a storm in a teacup, but in politics, we sail in paper boats.” ~ Harold MacMillan Quotes
- “I am MacWonder one moment and MacBlunder the next.” ~ Harold MacMillan
- “Although I am still in favor of a National Government in these difficult times, and shall probably be found in the great majority of cases in the Government Lobby, there are some issues that have arisen or are likely to arise, upon which I am unable to give the Government the support which it has, perhaps, the right to expect from those receiving the Government Whip. It occurs to me, therefore, that it would perhaps be more satisfactory if I was no longer regarded as being among the supporters of the present Administration.” ~ Harold MacMillan
- “There might be 1 finger on the trigger, but there will be 15 fingers on the safety catch.” ~ Harold MacMillan
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“It has been said that there is no fool like an old fool” ~ Harold MacMillan
- “When the curtain falls, the best thing an actor can do is to go away.” ~ Harold MacMillan
- “He (Aneurin Bevan) enjoys prophesying the imminent fall of the capitalist system, and is prepared to play a part, any part, in its burial, except that of mute.” ~ Harold MacMillan
- “Once the bear’s hug has got you, it is apt to be for keeps.” ~ Harold MacMillan
- “There are three bodies no sensible man directly challenges: the Roman Catholic Church, the Brigade of Guards and the National Union of Mineworkers” ~ Harold MacMillan
- “You can hardly say boo to a goose in the House of Commons now without cries of “Ungentlemanly,” “Not fair” and all the rest.” ~ Harold MacMillan
- “(A Foreign Secretary) is forever poised between the cliche and the indiscretion.” ~ Harold MacMillan
- “No man should ever lose sleep over public affairs.” ~ Harold MacMillan
- “Power? It’s like a Dead Sea fruit. When you achieve it, there is nothing there.” ~ Harold MacMillan
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“It is the duty of Her Majesty’s government neither to flap nor to falter.” ~ Harold MacMillan
- “Revolt by all means, but only on one issue at a time. To do more would be to confuse the whips.” ~ Harold MacMillan
- “We believe that unless we give opportunity to the strong and able, we shall never have the means to provide real protection for the weak and the old.” ~ Harold MacMillan
- “It isn’t those who always addressing each other as comrade who necessarily show the most brotherly feelings.” ~ Harold MacMillan
- “After long experience of politics, I have never found that there is any inhibition caused by ignorance as regards criticism.” ~ Harold MacMillan
- “We do not intend to part from the Americans and we do not intend to be satellites. I am sure they do not want us to be so. The stronger we are, the better partners we shall be; and I feel certain that as the months pass we shall draw continually closer together with mutual confidence and respect.” ~ Harold MacMillan
- “One nanny said, “Feed a cold”; she was a neo-Keynesian. Another nanny said, “Starve a cold”; she was a monetarist.” ~ Harold MacMillan
- “Marxism is like a classical building that followed the Renaissance; beautiful in its way, but incapable of growth.” ~ Harold MacMillan
- “I was a sort of son to Ike, and it was the other way round with Kennedy.” ~ Harold MacMillan
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“It’s no use crying over spilt summits.” ~ Harold MacMillan
- “At home, you always have to be a politician; when you’re abroad, you almost feel yourself a statesman.” ~ Harold MacMillan
- “Stop-Go seemed more sensible than using the brake and accelerator at the same time – a practice that later became fashionable.” ~ Harold MacMillan Quotes
- “A successful current affairs television show seems to be more and more a cross between a music-hall turn and a scene in a torture chamber.” ~ Harold MacMillan
- “If ever the call comes to them, the young will go straight from the ranks of the neutralists into the ranks of he Majesty’s Forces, as they have so often done in the past.” ~ Harold MacMillan
