Quotes by John Major

“The argument that someone is a bad man is an inadequate argument for war and certainly an inadequate and unacceptable argument for regime change.”

“If you look at things that really affect people's lives - sport, the arts, charities - they were always at the back of the queue for government money - health, social security, defence, pensions we...”

“Recovery begins from the darkest moment.”

“The first requirement of politics is not intellect or stamina but patience. Politics is a very long run game and the tortoise will usually beat the hare.”

“Well, I think there's a distinction between sexing-up the intelligence and sexing-up the presentation of the intelligence.”

“Of course there are regrets. I shall regret always that I found my own authentic voice in politics. I was too conservative, too conventional. Too safe, too often. Too defensive. Too reactive. Later...”

“It is time to return to core values, time to get back to basics, to self-discipline and respect for the law, to consideration for the others, to accepting responsibility for yourself and your famil...”

“Oh, Lord, if I must die today,Please make it after Close of Play.For this, I know, if nothing more,I will not go – without the score.The God of cricket, high above,Clearly heard this plea of love.A...”

“In the next ten years we will have to continue to make changes which will make the whole of this country a genuinely classless society.”

“I want to see us build a country that is at ease with itself, a country that is confident and a country that is able and willing to build a better quality of life for all its citizens.”

“Robert Hughes (Labour MP for Aberdeen North): With regard to the Prime Minister's desire for a classless society and social mobility, will he explain why there are no women in his Cabinet, or is th...”

“I want her [Margaret Thatcher] isolated; I want her destroyed.”

“We Conservatives have always passed our values from generation to generation. I believe that personal prosperity should follow the same course. I want to see wealth cascading down the generations. ...”

“Everyone who has seen the recent news reports has been shocked and moved by the suffering children in Sarajevo. At the end of last week, we told the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees th...”

“All my adult life I have seen British governments driven off their virtuous pursuit of low inflation by market problems or political pressures. I was under no illusions when I took Britain into the...”

“I am walking over hot coals suspended over a deep pit at the bottom of which are a large number of vipers baring their fangs.”

“I would like the public to have a crusade against crime and change their attitude from being forgiving of crime to being considerate to the victim. Society needs to condemn a little more and unders...”

“Fifty years on from now, Britain will still be the country of long shadows on county grounds, warm beer, invincible green suburbs, dog lovers and pools fillers and, as George Orwell said, 'Old maid...”

“It is time to return to those core values, time to get back to basics: to self-discipline and respect for the law, to consideration for others, to accepting responsibility for yourself and your fam...”

“If the implication of his remarks is that we should sit down and talk with Mr. Adams and the Provisional IRA, I can say only that that would turn my stomach and those of most hon. Members; we will ...”