“In politics a week is a very long time.”

I’m an optimist, but I’m an optimist who takes his raincoat.

The Labour Party is a moral crusade or it is nothing.

He who rejects change is the architect of decay.

He who rejects change is the architect of decay.

Over and above communication and vigilance, there are two factors I have always mentioned. They are sleep, and a sense of history.

Tories never actually talk about getting rid of their leader, then suddenly there us a flash of steel between he shoulder-blades and rigormortis sets in.

All these financiers, all the little gnomes of Zürich and the other financial centres, about whom we keep on hearing.

The government have only a small majority in the House of Commons. I want to make it quite clear that this will not affect our ability to govern. Having been charged with the duties of Government we intend to carry out those duties.

We are redefining and we are restating our socialism in terms of the scientific revolution

I get a little nauseated, perhaps, when I hear the phrase ‘freedom of the press’ used as freely as it is, knowing that a large part of our proprietorial press is not free at all.

I’m going on, and the Labour government’s going on.

If I had the choice between smoked salmon and tinned salmon, I’d have it tinned. With vinegar.

If you rattle along at great speed everybody inside is too exhilarated or too seasick to cause any trouble. But if you stop everybody gets out and argues about where to go next.

Everybody should have an equal chance – but they shouldn’t have a flying start.

I believe the greatest asset a head of state can have is the ability to get a good night’s sleep.

The ambition of the present Labour government is that every worker in the country will have a greater than average income.

As long as I’m still able to have a hit on the radio and sell a few albums and some tickets,

People are content to live in contradictory worlds, so long as they know the reason for each.

Hey, I think it’s easy for guys to hit .300 and stay in the big leagues. Hit .200 and try to stick around as long as I did; I think it’s a much greater accomplishment. That’s hard.

I am not stupid. I am a very bright guy. I know that in the fighting game, you get people who get brain damage and do themselves long-term harm.

I think it is always a long shot getting a book made into a film.

Not a lot of people or pros in this game know how to train correctly. That’s why they don’t have a long career. Their body gets banged up. They get into a rhythm of heavy sparring and heavy work, but through that, they’re limiting movement.

You only have power over people so long as you don’t take everything away from them. But when you’ve robbed a man of everything, he’s no longer in your power – he’s free again.

You figure it can’t ever get bad, but when you had it bad, you wonder how long a thing like this will last