Gladstone Quotes

He [William Gladstone] made his conscience not his guide but his accomplice.

Mr. Gladstone read Homer for fun, which I thought served him right.

What is the distinction between "misfortune" and "calamity"? If Mr. Gladstone fell into the Thames, it would be a misfortune; but if someone pulled him out, it would be a calamity.

Facts and events … have been too strong for the Government.

[British Prime Minister William] Gladstone is a sophisticated rhetorician, inebriated with the exuberance of his own verbosity, and gifted with an egotistical imagination, that can at all times command an interminable and inconsistent series of arguments to malign his opponents, and glorify himself.

Here is a man with the greatest intellect in Europe, and yet he debases it by simply following majorities and the crowd.

The Queen has done all she could on the dreadful subject of vivisection, and hopes that Mr. Gladstone will speak strongly against such a practice which is a disgrace to humanity.

... an old man in a hurry.

NOW MARK THIS—if the Expeditionary Force, and I ask for no more than 200 men, does not come in 10 days, the town may fall; and I have done the best for the honor of our country. Good Bye

I do not object to [Prime Minister William Ewart] Gladstone's always having the ace of trumps up his sleeve, but only to his pretense that God put it there.

He [William Gladstone] has not a single redeeming defect.

She will sooner abdicate than send for or have any communication with that half mad firebrand who would soon ruin everything & be a Dictator. Others but herself may submit to his democratic rule but not the Queen.

It was said that Mr. Gladstone could persuade most people of most things, and himself of anything.

Posterity will do justice to that unprincipled maniac Gladstone … Whether Prime Minister, or leaders of opposition, whether preaching or praying, speechifying or scribbling—never a gentlemen!

Besides, I'd heard too many Karen Carpenter tales at Gladstone PTA meetings, and they often took the form of boasts. The prestigious diagnosis of anorexia seemed much coveted not only by the students but by their mothers, who would compete over whose daughter ate less. No wonder the poor girls were a mess.

What will be blown up next? Last night an attempt was made to blow up the Government Offices in Parliament Street. Not so much damage was done to the building, owing to its great strength, but the streets for some distance round were strewn with glass…. Papa says it is Mr. Gladstone’s fault. He takes the side of these rogues and then, if they think he is slackening, they frighten him on a bit – really we shall be as bad as France soon.

Disraeli was my favourite Tory. He was an adventurer pure and simple, or impure and complex. I'm glad to say Gladstone got the better of him.

To all who leaned upon Mr. Gladstone, who trusted him, and hoped for something from him—chips, nothing but chips—hard, dry, unnourishing, indigestible chips.