When two nations had a contradictory assessment of their own military power and the issue at state was vital to both nations, war was likely.
Immigration is everyone’s business: it is one of the most important national issues. The idea that it is too dangerous to be debated is a mockery of democracy. It is too important not to debate.
Nationalism is both a vital medicine and a dangerous drug.
I am not superwoman. The reality of my daily life is that I am juggling a lot of balls in the air? And sometimes some of the balls get dropped.
We forget that the nineteenth century often turned work into sport. We, in contrast, often turn sport into work.
If we disown history we are at its mercy. To have a reasonable knowledge of the past is to possess an anchor which is likely to prevent us from being swept towards false ideas about the present and future.
War and peace are not separate compartments. Peace depends on threats and force; often peace is the crystallisation of past force.
One lesson of history is that every gain has its potential loss. The highest human achievements carry the danger of pride, and pride can lead blindly to disaster, just as failure can fortify the determination and so lead slowly towards triumph.
In economics, as in politics, no national reservoir can stand the strain when everyone is turning on the taps and few are bothering to see that the catchments to the reservoir are working.
In writing I was often aware that the same observation could fit neatly into different ideological moulds and that a train window is both mirror and window.