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David Lloyd George

383 quotes

“[Proportional representation is a] device for defeating democracy, the principle of which was that the majority should rule, and for bringing faddists of all kinds into Parliament, and establishing groups and disintegrating parties.”
David Lloyd George (1863–1945) first seen 1911 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Remarks to C. P. Scott (3 April 1917), in Trevor Wilson (ed.), The Political Diaries of C. P. Scott, 1911-1928 (1970), p. 274
“If anything were required to convert me to the need for Scottish Home Rule, I think it was that solitary experience I had upon a Private Bill Committee... [P]urely local, and if I may say purely provincial questions ought to be delegated to purely provincial and—I am not afraid to use the word—national assemblies.”
David Lloyd George (1863–1945) first seen 1917 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Remarks to a deputation of the Parliamentary Committee of the Scottish Trades Union Congress (23 October 1917), quoted in The Times (25 October 1917), p. 3
“I warn you", said Lloyd George, "that I am in a very pacifist temper". I listened last night, at a dinner given to Philip Gibbs on his return from the front, to the most impressive and moving description from him of what the war really means that I have heard. Even an audience of hardened politicians and journalists was strongly affected. The thing is horrible and beyond human nature to bear and "I feel I can't go on with this bloody business: I would rather resign.”
David Lloyd George (1863–1945) first seen 1911 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Remarks to C. P. Scott as recorded in Scott's diary (28 December 1917), in Trevor Wilson (ed.), The Political Diaries of C. P. Scott, 1911-1928 (1970), p. 324
“No democracy has ever long survived the failure of its adherents to be ready to die for it....My own conviction is this, the people must either go on or go under.”
David Lloyd George (1863–1945) first seen 1918 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Address, conference of trade union delegates, London (18 January 1918), in The Times (19 January 1918), p. 8. Reported in Respectfully Quoted: A Dictionary of Quotations (1989), p. 252, no. 1,340
“The statistics given me by Sir Auckland Geddes are most disquieting. They show that the physique of the people of this country is far from what it should be, particularly in the agricultural districts where the inhabitants should be the strongest. That is due to low wages, malnutrition and housing. It will have to be put right after the war. I have always stood during the whole of my life for the under-dog. I have not changed, and am going still to fight his battle.”
David Lloyd George (1863–1945) first seen 1908 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Remarks to George Riddell (13/14 August 1918), J. M. McEwen (ed.), The Riddell Diaries 1908-1923 (1986), p. 233
“What is the next great lesson of the war? It is that if Britain has to be thoroughly equipped to meet any emergencies of either war or peace it must take a more constant and a more intelligent interest in the health and fitness of the people. ... I solemnly warn my fellow-countrymen that you cannot maintain an A1 Empire with a C3 population. (Cheers.) Unless this lesson is learned the war is in vain. Remember that the health of the people is the secret of national efficiency and national recuperation.”
David Lloyd George (1863–1945) first seen 1918 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Speech in Manchester (12 September 1918), quoted in The Times (13 September 1918), p. 8
“[T]he shielding of industries which have been demonstrated by the war to be essential to the very life of the nation. I remember when I was appointed Minister of Munitions I found there were industries essential to national defence which had been very largely captured by our enemies. ... [T]hese essential key industries shall be preserved after the war, not because we anticipate another war, but because we are less likely to have another war if they know that we are quite ready for any challenge on a just ground.”
David Lloyd George (1863–1945) first seen 1918 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Speech in Manchester (12 September 1918), quoted in The Times (13 September 1918), p. 8
“Wilson is adopting a dangerous line. He wants to pose as the great arbiter of the war. His Fourteen Points are very dangerous. He speaks of the freedom of the seas. That would involve the abolition of the right of search and seizure, and the blockade. We shall not agree to that. Such a change would not suit this country. Wilson does not see that by laying down terms without consulting the Allies, he is making their position very difficult. He had no right to reply to the German Note without consultation, and I insisted upon a cablegram being sent to him. The position is very disturbing.”
David Lloyd George (1863–1945) first seen 1908 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Remarks to George Riddell (10 October 1918), J. M. McEwen (ed.), The Riddell Diaries 1908-1923 (1986), p. 240
“Great Britain would spend her last guinea to keep a navy superior to that of the United States or any other power.”
David Lloyd George (1863–1945) first seen 1918 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Quoted in Colonel Edward House's diary entry (4 November 1918), quoted in Charles Seymour (ed.), The Intimate Papers of Colonel House. Volume IV (1928), p. 180
“At eleven o’clock this morning came to an end the cruellest and most terrible War that has ever scourged mankind. I hope we may say that thus, this fateful morning, came to an end all wars.”
David Lloyd George (1863–1945) first seen 1918 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Speech in the House of Commons (11 November 1918)
“Diplomats were invented simply to waste time.”
David Lloyd George (1863–1945) first seen 1918 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: On preparation for the Paris Peace Conference (November 1918)
“What is our task? To make Britain a fit country for heroes to live in.”
David Lloyd George (1863–1945) first seen 1918 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Speech in Wolverhampton (23 November 1918), quoted in The Times (25 November 1918), p. 13
“[W]hat about those people whom we received without question for years to our shores (Voices.—“Send them back”), who, after we did so and gave them equal rights with the sons and daughters of our own households, abused hospitality to betray the land that received them; to plot against its security, to spy upon it, and to supply information and weapons that enabled the Prussian War Lords to inflict, not punishment, but to inflict damage and injury, on the land which had received them. Never again! (Mr. Lloyd George here banged the table in front of him, and the audience cheered vociferously.)”
David Lloyd George (1863–1945) first seen 1918 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Speech in Newcastle-upon-Tyne (29 November 1918), quoted in The Times (30 November 1918), p. 6
“There is one point I had overlooked as to the question of the responsibility for the invasion of Belgium and the conduct of the war. The Government asked the Attorney-General to refer the question to some of the greatest jurists in this country. They have investigated it, and have come finally to the conclusion quite unanimously that in their judgment the Kaiser was guilty of an indictable offence for which he ought to be held responsible.”
David Lloyd George (1863–1945) first seen 1918 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Speech in Newcastle-upon-Tyne (29 November 1918), quoted in The Times (30 November 1918), p. 6
“Trial of the Kaiser; punishment of those responsible for atrocities; fullest indemnities from Germany; Britain for the British, socially and industrially; rehabilitation of those broken in the war; and a happier country for all.”
David Lloyd George (1863–1945) first seen 1918 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Election programme contained in a foreword to an official list of Coalition candidates, quoted in The Times (11 December 1918), p. 8
“[T]he question of indemnity. (Cheers.) Who is to foot the bill? (A voice—“Germany.”) I am again going to talk to you quite frankly about this. By the jurisprudence of every civilized country in the world, in any lawsuit the loser pays. It is not a question of vengeance, it is a question of justice.”
David Lloyd George (1863–1945) first seen 1918 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Speech in Colston Hall, Bristol (11 December 1918), quoted in The Times (12 December 1918), p. 6
“I have always said we will exact the last penny we can out of Germany up to the limit of her capacity, but I am not going to mislead the public on the question of the capacity until I know more about it, and I am not going to do it in order to win votes. It is not right; it is not fair; it is not straightforward; and it is not honest. If Germany has a greater capacity, she must pay to the very last penny.”
David Lloyd George (1863–1945) first seen 1918 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Speech in Colston Hall, Bristol (11 December 1918), quoted in The Times (12 December 1918), p. 6
“The finest eloquence is that which gets things done; the worst is that which delays them.”
David Lloyd George (1863–1945) first seen 1919 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Speech at the Paris Peace Conference (January 1919)
“By these atrocities, almost unparalleled in the black record of Turkish rule, the Armenian population was reduced in numbers by well over one million… If we succeeded in defeating this inhuman empire, one essential condition of the peace we should impose was the redemption of the Armenian valleys forever from the bloody misrule with which they had been stained by the infamies of the Turk.”
David Lloyd George (1863–1945) said by 1945 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“I am making a good fight for the old country & there is no one but me who could do it.”
David Lloyd George (1863–1945) first seen 1919 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Remarks to Frances Stevenson (11 March 1919), quoted in A. J. P. Taylor (ed.), Lloyd George: A Diary (1971), p. 171
“We must make, if we can, an enduring peace. That is why I feel so strongly regarding the proposal to hand over two million Germans to the Poles, who are an inferior people so far as concerns the experience and capacity for government. We do not want to create another Alsace-Lorraine.”
David Lloyd George (1863–1945) first seen 1908 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Remarks to George Riddell (28 March 1919), quoted in J. M. McEwen (ed.), The Riddell Diaries 1908-1923 (1986), p. 262
“The truth is that we have got our way. We have got most of the things we set out to get. If you had told the British people twelve months ago that they would have secured what they have, they would have laughed you to scorn. The German Navy has been handed over; the German mercantile shipping has been handed over, and the German colonies have been given up. One of our chief trade competitors has been most seriously crippled and our Allies are about to become her biggest creditors. That is no small achievement. In addition, we have destroyed the menace to our Indian possessions.”
David Lloyd George (1863–1945) first seen 1908 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Remarks to George Riddell (30 March 1919), quoted in J. M. McEwen (ed.), The Riddell Diaries 1908-1923 (1986), p. 263
“Those insolent Germans made me very angry yesterday. I don't know when I have been more angry. Their conduct showed that the old German is still there. Your Brockdorff-Rantzaus will ruin Germany's chances of reconstruction. But the strange thing is that the Americans and ourselves felt more angry than the French and Italians. I asked old Clemenceau why. He said, "Because we are accustomed to their insolence. We have had to bear it for fifty years. It is new to you and therefore it makes you angry".”
David Lloyd George (1863–1945) first seen 1908 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Remarks to George Riddell (8 May 1919), quoted in J. M. McEwen (ed.), The Riddell Diaries 1908-1923 (1986), p. 275. At the presentation of the Versailles Treaty the day before, the German delegate Count Brockdorff-Rantz…
“I ask anyone to point to any territorial change we made in respect to Germany in Europe which is in the least an injustice, judged by any principle of fairness.”
David Lloyd George (1863–1945) first seen 1919 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Speech in the House of Commons on the Treaty of Versailles (3 July 1919)
“Having regard to the use which Germany made of her great army, is there anything unjust in scattering that army, disarming it, making it incapable of repeating the injury which it has inflicted upon the world?”
David Lloyd George (1863–1945) first seen 1919 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Speech in the House of Commons on the Treaty of Versailles (3 July 1919)
“Is it unjust that we should, in our economic terms, make it clear that Germany is not to take advantage of wanton destruction of the trade machinery of her rivals in Belgium and in France, in order to get ahead in the competitive race for business? Money does not put that right. You cannot get machinery in a year or, perhaps, two years, and meanwhile Germany, which has never been devastated, would be going a head. We had to put in clauses for protection against that. What injustice is there in that?”
David Lloyd George (1863–1945) first seen 1919 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Speech in the House of Commons on the Treaty of Versailles (3 July 1919)
“[T]he League of Nations will be of no value unless it has behind it the sanction of strong nations, prepared at a moment's notice to stop aggression. Otherwise the League of Nations will be a scrap of paper.”
David Lloyd George (1863–1945) first seen 1919 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Speech in the House of Commons on the Treaty of Versailles (3 July 1919)
“Dumping is the exporting to this country of goods from a foreign land under the cost—beneath the price at which they are sold in their own country. There could be only one object in doing that, and that is to make war upon a particular industry in our country. That is unfair. ... In the interests of fairness, as well as in the interests of British industry as a whole, the Government have decided to submit to Parliament proposals which will effectively deal with dumping in the sense in which I have defined it.”
David Lloyd George (1863–1945) first seen 1919 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Speech in the House of Commons (18 August 1919)
“Many of the young Conservatives, particularly the young officers who have returned from the Front, are most democratic in their views and anxious for reform. The so-called Liberal Party consists mostly of plutocrats like Runciman and Cowdray who have no sympathy whatever with the aspirations of the mass of the people.”
David Lloyd George (1863–1945) first seen 1908 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Remarks to George Riddell (2 November 1919), quoted in J. M. McEwen (ed.), The Riddell Diaries 1908-1923 (1986), p. 295
“I sometimes wish that I were in the Labour Party. I would tear down all these institutions!”
David Lloyd George (1863–1945) first seen 1919 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: On landlords, said to Frances Stevenson (17 December 1919), quoted in A. J. P. Taylor (ed.), Lloyd George: A Diary (1971), p. 193
“Winston [Churchill] is the only remaining specimen of a real Tory.”
David Lloyd George (1863–1945) first seen 1920 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Remarks to Frances Stevenson (17 January 1920), quoted in A. J. P. Taylor (ed.), Lloyd George: A Diary (1971), p. 197
“You do not declare war on rebels.”
David Lloyd George (1863–1945) first seen 1916 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: On the Irish Republican Army during the Irish War of Independence; minute-sheet on Ireland (30 April 1920), quoted in D. G. Boyce, 'How to Settle the Irish Question: Lloyd George and Ireland 1916–21', in A. J. P. Taylor…
“We ought not to stint anything that is necessary in order to crush the rebellion.”
David Lloyd George (1863–1945) first seen 1916 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Letter to Bonar Law (10 May 1920), quoted in D. G. Boyce, 'How to Settle the Irish Question: Lloyd George and Ireland 1916–21', in A. J. P. Taylor (ed.), Lloyd George: Twelve Essays (1971), pp. 150-151
“The Turks very nearly brought about our defeat in the war. It was a near thing. You cannot trust them and they are a decadent race. The Greeks, on the other hand, are our friends, and they are a rising people... We must secure Constantinople and the Dardanelles. You cannot do that effectively without crushing the Turkish power.”
David Lloyd George (1863–1945) first seen 1908 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Remarks to George Riddell (26 June 1920), quoted in J. M. McEwen (ed.), The Riddell Diaries 1908-1923 (1986), pp. 315-316
“You cannot in the existing state of Ireland punish a policeman who shoots a man whom he has every reason to suspect is concerned with the police murders. This kind of thing can only be met by reprisals.”
David Lloyd George (1863–1945) first seen 1918 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Remarks to H. A. L. Fisher (24 September 1920), quoted in D. G. Boyce, Englishmen and Irish Troubles: British Public Opinion and the Making of Irish Policy 1918–1922 (1972), p. 55, n.
“Let us be fair to these gallant men who are doing their duty in Ireland. Here you stand by your police and you protect them against any uniforms, and you are right. It is all very well for people who are sitting comfortably at home here, secured from assassins and depredators through the protection of the police, to turn round and pompously criticise them about outrages and discipline when they are defending themselves.”
David Lloyd George (1863–1945) first seen 1920 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Speech in Carnarvon (9 October 1920), quoted in The Times (11 October 1920), p. 16
“The police feel that the time has come for them to defend themselves, and that is what is called reprisals in Ireland.”
David Lloyd George (1863–1945) first seen 1920 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Speech in Carnarvon (9 October 1920), quoted in The Times (11 October 1920), p. 16
“I happen to belong to a little nationality. So do you, and we are a real nationality. I have been listening to Welsh music... I have been listening to a Welsh address which every one of you understands. Go to a County Council in Ireland and, I have no doubt, Mr. Arthur Griffith would be presented with an address written in Gaelic which neither he nor anybody else in the place would understand... It is a sham and a fraud, the whole of this nationality.”
David Lloyd George (1863–1945) first seen 1920 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Speech in Carnarvon (9 October 1920), quoted in The Times (11 October 1920), p. 16
“There we have witnessed a spectacle of organised assassination, of the most cowardly character. Firing at men who were unsuspecting, firing from men who were dressed in the garb of peaceable citizens, and who are treated as such by the officers of the law; firing from behind—cowardly murder. Unless I am mistaken, by the steps we have taken we have murder by the throat.”
David Lloyd George (1863–1945) first seen 1920 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: On the Irish Republican Army; speech at the Guildhall, London (9 November 1920), quoted in The Times (10 November 1920), p. 8
“There will be no real peace in Ireland, there will be no conciliation until this murder conspiracy is scattered... In vast tracts of Ireland the police were practically interned in their barracks. They dared not come out. Terror was triumphant! ... When the Government were ready, we struck the terror, and the terrorists are now complaining of terror.”
David Lloyd George (1863–1945) first seen 1920 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Speech at the Guildhall, London (9 November 1920), quoted in The Times (10 November 1920), p. 8
“The men who indulge in these murders say it is war. If it is war, they, at any rate, cannot complain if we apply some of the rules of war... Until this conspiracy is suppressed there is no hope of real peace or conciliation in Ireland, and every one desires peace and conciliation—on fair terms; fair to Ireland, yes, but fair to Britain... You must break the terror before you get peace.”
David Lloyd George (1863–1945) first seen 1920 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Speech at the Guildhall, London (9 November 1920), quoted in The Times (10 November 1920), p. 8
“We are offering Ireland not subjection but equality, not servitude but partnership—an honourable partnership, a partnership in the greatest Empire in the world—a partnership in that Empire in the greatest day of its glory.”
David Lloyd George (1863–1945) first seen 1920 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Speech at the Guildhall, London (9 November 1920), quoted in The Times (10 November 1920), p. 8
“Beaverbrook suggests that we should withdraw from Ireland. I think I shall have to go for him in the House. I don't believe that the British people would tolerate such pusillanimous conduct!”
David Lloyd George (1863–1945) first seen 1908 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Remarks to George Riddell (20 November 1920), quoted in J. M. McEwen (ed.), The Riddell Diaries 1908-1923 (1986), p. 328
“The League of Nations is the greatest humbug in history. They cannot even protect a little nation like Armenia. They do nothing but pass useless resolutions.”
David Lloyd George (1863–1945) first seen 1908 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Remarks to George Riddell (18 December 1920), quoted in J. M. McEwen (ed.), The Riddell Diaries 1908-1923 (1986), p. 330
“[Lloyd George] said that Harding's speech on American naval aspirations made him feel that he would pawn his shirt rather than allow America to dominate the seas. If this was to be the outcome of the League of Nations propaganda, he was sorry for the world and in particular for America.”
David Lloyd George (1863–1945) first seen 1908 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Remarks to George Riddell as recorded in his diary (1 January 1921), quoted in J. M. McEwen (ed.), The Riddell Diaries 1908-1923 (1986), p. 332
“The question is whether the people of this country are prepared to go on for twelve months... I see no alternative but to fight it out... A republic at our doors is unthinkable.”
David Lloyd George (1863–1945) first seen 1908 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Remarks to George Riddell on Ireland (3 April 1921), quoted in J. M. McEwen (ed.), The Riddell Diaries 1908-1923 (1986), p. 340
“[Lloyd George] then went on to say that the Imperial Conference had had a meeting that morning, and that he, Smuts, Hughes and Massey did not intend to allow the British Empire to take a back seat. Gt Britain had won the war. She had made enormous sacrifices in men and money, and they were quite determined that she should not be overshadowed by America.”
David Lloyd George (1863–1945) first seen 1908 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Remarks to George Riddell as recorded in his diary (July 1921), quoted in J. M. McEwen (ed.), The Riddell Diaries 1908-1923 (1986), p. 347
“The B[ritish] E[mpire] is a sisterhood of nations—the greatest in the world. Look at this table: There sits Africa—English and Boer; there sits Canada—French, Scotch & English; there sits Australia, representing many races—even Maoris; there sits India; here sit the representatives of England, Scotland & Wales; all we ask you to do is to take your place in this sisterhood of free nations. It is an invitation, Mr. De Valera: we invite you here.”
David Lloyd George (1863–1945) first seen 1921 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Remarks to Frances Stevenson as recorded in her diary (14 July 1921), quoted in A. J. P. Taylor (ed.), Lloyd George: A Diary (1971), pp. 227-228
“[Lloyd George] had a not too satisfactory interview with [Eamon de Valera] yesterday. ... After DeV. had read the terms he told [Lloyd George] he could not advise his people to accept them. 'Very well, Mr. DeV.', was [Lloyd George]'s answer, 'then there is only one thing more left for us to discuss'. 'What is that?', asked DeV. 'The time for the truce to come to an end', said [Lloyd George]. [Lloyd George] says DeV. went perfectly white, and had difficulty controlling his agitation. ... [Lloyd George] says that if they refuse there is only one thing to be done—to reconquer Ireland.”
David Lloyd George (1863–1945) first seen 1921 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Frances Stevenson's diary entry (22 July 1921), quoted in A. J. P. Taylor (ed.), Lloyd George: A Diary (1971), pp. 230-231
“When trade is slack, you paint your factory and get it ready for new business. That is what we ought to be doing.”
David Lloyd George (1863–1945) first seen 1918 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Remarks to George Riddell (8 October 1921), quoted in Lord Riddell's Intimate Diary of the Peace Conference and After, 1918–1923 (1933), p. 328