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John Major
30 quotes
“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. And so the Reaper did not come Until the game was lost and won.”
John Major (born 1943) first seen 2005 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Partly cited by John Major "From Oval teen to Oval Office" The Times (7 September 2005). For the full version, see Patrick Kidd "Major’s verse has no curse" The Times (6 March 2017).
“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.”
John Major (born 1943) first seen 1990 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Today newspaper, 24 November 1990.
“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.”
John Major (born 1943) first seen 1990 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Statement in Downing Street on being invited to form a new government, 28 November 1990.
“I want her [Margaret Thatcher] isolated; I want her destroyed.”
John Major (born 1943) first seen 1991 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Remarks to his private secretary Judith Chaplin recorded in her diary entry for 3–7 June 1991, quoted in Ronald Watson, 'Major scorned ‘loopy’ Thatcher', The Times (20 September 1999), p. 2
“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. We do not see each generation starting out anew, with the past cut off and the future ignored.”
John Major (born 1943) first seen 1991 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: First speech as leader at the Conservative Party conference (1991)
“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 ERM. I said at the time that membership was no soft option. The soft option, the devaluer's option, the inflationary option, that would in my opinion be a betrayal of Britain's future.”
John Major (born 1943) first seen 1992 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Robin Oakley, "Major rejects devaluation as betrayal of the future", The Times, 11 September 1992.
“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.”
John Major (born 1943) first seen 1992 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Nicholas Wood and Michael Prescott, "Major threatens general election if he fails to win Maastricht vote", The Sunday Times, 25 October 1992.
“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 understand a little less.”
John Major (born 1943) first seen 1993 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Interview with The Mail on Sunday, quoted in Sheila Gunn and Richard Ford, 'Clarke to get tough with hard-core teenage crime', The Times (22 February 1993), p. 1
“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 maids bicycling to holy communion through the morning mist' and, if we get our way, Shakespeare will still be read even in school.”
John Major (born 1943) first seen 1941 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Speech to the Conservative Group for Europe, 22 April 1993. The reference to George Orwell is to his 1941 essay "The Lion and the Unicorn".
“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 family, and not shuffling it off on other people and the state.”
John Major (born 1943) first seen 1993 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Nicholas Wood, Jill Sherman, Sheila Gunn, "Major gives seal of approval to Tories' right-wing agenda", The Times, 9 October 1993
“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 not do it. If and when there is a total ending of violence, and if and when that ending of violence is established for a significant time, we shall talk to all the constitutional parties that have people elected in their names. I will not talk to people who murder indiscriminately.”
John Major (born 1943) first seen 1993 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Hansard, HC Debates Sixth Series, vol 231 col 35 (1 November 1993).
“Summers simply won't be the same without him.”
John Major (born 1943) first seen 1994 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Frank Keating, "Tributes flow as Johnners, voice of English cricket, dies at 81", The Guardian (6 January 1994).
“Something I was not aware had happened suddenly turned out not to have happened.”
John Major (born 1943) first seen 1994 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Joe Joseph, "Elementary lessons in logic for enquiry's bemused counsel", The Times (18 January 1994).
“The right hon. and learned Member is the man who likes to say yes in Europe — Monsieur Oui, the poodle of Brussels.”
John Major (born 1943) first seen 1994 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Hansard, HC Debates, Sixth Series, vol 240 col 134 (22 March 1994).
“We will do precisely what the British nation has done all through its history when it had its back against the wall — turn round and fight for the things it believes in, and that is what I shall do.”
John Major (born 1943) first seen 1995 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Michael White, Patrick Wintour, "Hanley set to carry the can as defiant Major vows to fight on", The Guardian (6 May 1995).
“The Conservative Party must make its choice. Every leader is leader only with the support of his party. That is true of me too. That is why I am no longer prepared to tolerate the present situation. In short, it is time to put up or shut up.”
John Major (born 1943) first seen 1995 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Michael White, "Major's ultimate gamble", The Guardian (23 June 1995).
“George Foulkes: Will the Prime Minister tell us what word he would legitimately use to describe those Cabinet Ministers who, while professing loyalty to him, are setting up telephone lines in campaign offices for the second round of the election? John Major: I have no knowledge of that. I can say that the speed at which these matters can be done is a tribute to privatisation.”
John Major (born 1943) first seen 1995 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Prime Minister's Questions, 29 June, 1995.
“Whether you agree with me, disagree with me, like me or loathe me, don't bind my hands when I am negotiating on behalf of the British people.”
John Major (born 1943) first seen 1997 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Michael White, "At war with his party", The Guardian (17 April 1997) p. 1
“I have been a Member of Parliament for 18 years. I have been a member of the Government for 14 years, of the Cabinet for ten years and Prime Minister since 1990. When the curtain falls it is time to get off the stage and that is what I propose to do. I shall, therefore, advise my parliamentary colleagues that it would be appropriate for them to consider the selection of a new leader of the Conservative Party to lead the party through Opposition through the years that lie immediately ahead.”
John Major (born 1943) first seen 1997 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Major's Speech", The Times (3 May 1997) p. 2.
“It is the one event in my life of which I am most ashamed and I have long feared would be made public.”
John Major (born 1943) first seen 2002 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Concerning his affair with Edwina Currie. See "Major and Currie had four-year affair" BBC News (28 September 2002).
“The rebellious radicals of right and left argue for partisan policies that appeal to the extremes of their party base. As they do so, political divisions widen, consensus shrinks, and a minority of the party begins to manipulate the majority. This is dangerous territory. The malcontents should remember that, without some give-or-take, without some effort at consensus, our tolerant party system can become ungovernable. In politics, as in life, consensus is wise, not weak; and tolerance is a virtue, not a failing.”
John Major (born 1943) first seen 2017 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: 2017 One People Oration at Westminster Abbey
“Their approach is profoundly un-Conservative and, whatever its short-term effect, will do permanent damage to the reputation of the Conservative Party.”
John Major (born 1943) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“That must be the first agreement in history that was signed by people who decided it was useless in the first place.”
John Major (born 1943) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“The protocol is a mess. It was very poorly negotiated [...] I think some of the promises made after the protocol that there would be no checks on trade from Britain and Northern Ireland, how those promises came to be made I cannot imagine because they were patently wrong. The protocol needs changing. I am baffled as to how we could have reached a situation where that protocol was accepted.”
John Major (born 1943) first seen 2023 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: On the Northern Ireland Protocol in the Brexit withdrawal agreement in a meeting with the Northern Ireland Affairs Select Committee of the House of Commons (7 February 2023) as cited in "Boris Johnson agreed Brexit prot…
“A soundbite never buttered any parsnips.”
John Major (born 1943) first seen 1997 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Contemporary version of English proverb "fine words butter no parsnips". Attributed to Major in The Guardian (31 January 1998) p. 13, and on Have I Got News For You (1 May 1997)
“If the answer is more politicians, you are asking the wrong question.”
John Major (born 1943) first seen 2007 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Attributed to Major by Vernon Bogdanor, "Why the Lords doesn't need more politicians", The Sunday Telegraph (11 February 2007).
“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 the only woman in his Cabinet the back-seat driver? John Major: In recent years, in all aspects of life in this country, women have been taking a higher profile: in the law, in commerce, in the civil service, in industry and in politics – and that will continue. As those women would wish it to be, they will reach the top on merit – oh yes, and if the hon. Gentleman is patient, he will find women aplenty in top positions in my Government. Indeed, if he had waited awhile, perhaps even to the end of today, he would not have asked that question.”
John Major (born 1943) first seen 1015 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Hansard, 6ser, vol 181 col 1015 (29 November 1990)
“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 that we stood ready to evacuate children from Sarajevo to the United Kingdom for medical treatment, or to send medical teams to Yugoslavia to provide treatment on the spot.If it is possible to treat the children on the spot, near to their families, with people around them who speak their language and in relatively familiar surroundings, that is obviously the best way. We have told the International Red Cross that we are willing to fly out medical personnel at very short notice if needed. I hope to meet the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees in London later this week to see what further action is needed.”
John Major (born 1943) first seen 1992 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Hansard HC Debates, Sixth series, vol. 211 col 812 (13 July 1992)
“Democracy in action is more than satisfying the material demands of the majority, or honouring the promises of an election manifesto. Democratic government must govern for the future as well as the present. A governing party must govern for political opponents who did not vote for them – and may never do so. It must govern for the unborn, and the country they will inherit. For minorities. For the wider international community. And all governments have a responsibility to themselves for the manner in which they govern. One has only to set out these responsibilities to see that no government, perhaps ever, has met this ideal – government by men and women, not saints, is an imperfect vehicle for perfection. But that does not mean their imperfections should be ignored or accepted.”
John Major (born 1943) first seen 2017 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: 2017 One People Oration at Westminster Abbey
“Nationalism is authoritarian. It turns easily towards autocracy or – at worst – outright dictatorship. Nationalists hide their threat under an exaggerated love of country, an unthinking patriotism: “my country, right or wrong”. Its leaders view other countries – and sometimes other races – as inferior. [...] There is a great difference between nationalism and patriotism. Patriotism is more than pride in country. A mature patriotism concerns itself with the condition of the people, as well as the prestige of the country. Such a patriotism worries about deprivation, opportunity and incentive. It asks itself: how can we spread our wealth and opportunity more evenly around our country? And it is as concerned with the growth of food banks as it is with a shortage of aircraft carriers.”
John Major (born 1943) first seen 2017 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: 2017 One People Oration at Westminster Abbey