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"I had furthermore spoken on the assumption that Russia would mobilize, whereas the assumption of the German Government had hitherto been, officially, that Serbia would receive no support; and what I had said must influence the German Government to take the matter seriously."
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"Every government is a parliament of whores. The trouble is, in a democracy, the whores are us."
"I am concerned about the whole man. I am concerned about what the people, using their government as an instrument and a tool, can do toward building the whole man, which will mean a better society and a better world."
"There shall be no end to the government of God."
"For a country to have a great writer is like having another government. That's why no regime has ever loved great writers, only minor ones."
"No more distressing moment can ever face a British government than that which requires it to come to a hard, fast and specific decision."
"The most cogent reason for restricting the interference of government is the great evil of adding unnecessarily to its power."
"Government, even in its best state, is but a necessary evil; in its worst state, an intolerable one."
"Democracy is not so much a form of government as a set of principles."
"A patriot must always be ready to defend his country against his government."
"If you make any money, the government shoves you in the creek once a year with it in your pockets, and all that don't get wet you can keep."
Explore more quotes by Edward Grey
"I thought this must be obvious to everyone else, as it seemed obvious to me; and that, if once it became apparent that we were on the edge, all the Great Powers would call a halt and recoil from the abyss."
"The Chancellor also in effect asks us to bargain away whatever obligation or interest we have as regards the neutrality of Belgium. We could not entertain that bargain either."
"I said to the German Ambassador that, as long as there was only a dispute between Austria and Serbia alone, I did not feel entitled to intervene; but that, directly it was a matter between Austria and Russia, it became a question of the peace of Europe, which concerned us all."
"That Germany was so immensely strong and Austria so dependent upon German strength that the word and will of Germany would at the critical moment be decisive with Austria."
"I knew it to be very doubtful whether the Cabinet, Parliament, and the country would take this view on the outbreak of war, and through the whole of this week I had in view the probable contingency that we should not decide at the critical moment to support France."
"If the union between England and America is a powerful factor in the cause of peace, a new Triple Alliance between the Teutonic race and the two branches of the Anglo-Saxon race will be a still more potent influence in the future of the world."
"An understanding is perhaps better than an alliance, which may stereotype arrangements which cannot be regarded as permanent in view of the changing circumstances from day to day."
"Instead of a few hundreds of thousands of men meeting each other in war, millions would now meet, and modern weapons would multiply manifold the power of destruction."
"The German Emperor is ageing me; he is like a battleship with steam up and screws going, but with no rudder, and he will run into something some day and cause a catastrophe."
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