John Bright Quotes

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All quotes by John Bright: Giving House Opinions more...
  • Rich and great people can take care of themselves; but the poor and defenceless - the men with small cottages and large families - the men who must work six days every week if they are to live in anything like comfort for a week, - these men want defenders; they want men to maintain their position in Parliament; they want men who will protest against any infringement of their rights.

    Men  
    Speech at his Durham election in July 1843. "The Life Of John Bright". Book by G. M. Trevelyan, p. 100, 1913.
  • A year ago I was in the city of Genoa, and I found that it returned seven representatives to the Sardinian Parliament at Turin, seven being its fair share, calculated according to the population of the various cities and districts of the Sardinian kingdom.

    John Bright, H. J. Leech (1885). “The Public Letters of John Bright”, London : S. Low, Marston, Searle, & Rivington
  • The franchise itself gives no real power, unless accompanied by the right on the part of all the possessors of it to elect something like an equal number of representatives.

    John Bright, H. J. Leech (1885). “The Public Letters of John Bright”, London : S. Low, Marston, Searle, & Rivington
  • The corn law was intended to keep wheat at the price of 80s. the quarter; it is now under 40s. the quarter.

    John Bright, H. J. Leech (1885). “The Public Letters of John Bright”, London : S. Low, Marston, Searle, & Rivington
  • The angel of death has been abroad throughout the land; you may almost hear the beating of his wings.

    Referring to the effects of the war in the Crimea, in 'Hansard', 23 February 1855, col. 1761
  • We have had a great depression in agriculture, caused mainly by several seasons of bad harvests, and some of our traders have suffered much from a too rapid extension in prosperous years.

  • I. cannot stoop to reply to the folly and the slander of every poor Tory partisan who assails me, and I should not have noticed you but for the fact that you are a member of the House of Commons.

    House   Facts   Poor  
    John Bright, H. J. Leech (1885). “The Public Letters of John Bright”, London : S. Low, Marston, Searle, & Rivington
  • So then because some towns in England are not represented, America is to have no representative at all. They are our children; but when children ask for bread we are not to give a stone.

  • It was in the year 1820, when I was nearly nine years old, that I first went to a regular school.

  • The Aristocratic Institutions of England [had] acted much like the Slavery Institutions of America... [in] demoralis[ing] large classes outside their own special boundaries... [in producing] a long habit of submission... [and in] enfeebl[ing] by corrupting those who should assail them.

    Letter to Richard Congrieve on November 24, 1866. "1867 Disraeli, Gladstone and Revolution". Book by Maurice Cowling, p. 25, 1967.
  • This regard for the liberties of Europe, this care at one time for the protestant interest, this excessive love for the balance of power, is neither more nor less than a gigantic system of outdoor relief for the aristocracy of Great Britain.

    1858 Speech, Birmingham, 29 Oct.
  • Had they [the Tories] been in the wilderness they would have complained of the Ten Commandments. Remark.

  • I am for peace, retrenchment and reform, the watchword of the great Liberal Party thirty years ago.

    Speech on April 28, 1859. The Times, p. 6, April 29, 1859.
  • Demand the ballot as the undeniable right of every man who is called to the poll, and take special care that the old constitutional rule and principle, by which majorities alone shall decide in Parliamentary elections, shall not be violated.

    Men  
    John Bright, H. J. Leech (1885). “The Public Letters of John Bright”, London : S. Low, Marston, Searle, & Rivington
  • The beasts (Conservatives) had committed suicide to save themselves from slaughter.

  • Well, will anybody deny now that the Government at Washington, as regards its own people, is the strongest government in the world at this hour? And for this simple reason, that it is based on the will, and the good will, of an instructed people.

    John Bright (1865). “Speeches of John Bright, M.P., on the American Question”, p.257
  • We may be proud that England is the ancient country of Parliaments. With scarcely any intervening period, Parliaments have met constantly for 600 years, and there was something of a Parliament before the Conquest. England is the mother of Parliaments.

    Speech, Birmingham, England, 18 Jan. 1865
  • The knowledge of the ancient languages is mainly a luxury.

    Letter in 'Pall Mall Gazette', 30 November 1886
  • The right honorable gentleman [Robert Lowe, Viscount Sherbrooke] is the first of the new party who has retired into his political cave of Adullam and he has called about him everyone that was in distress and everyone that was discontented.

  • I would prefer to have one comfortable room well stocked with books to all you could give me in the way of decoration which the highest art could supply.

  • With regard to the ballot, it is worthy of remark that no meeting has been held in favour of Reform at which the ballot has not been strongly insisted upon.

    John Bright, H. J. Leech (1885). “The Public Letters of John Bright”, London : S. Low, Marston, Searle, & Rivington
  • England is the Mother of Parliaments

    Speech, Birmingham, England, 18 Jan. 1865
  • There is no nation on the continent of Europe that is less able to do harm to England, and there isno nation on the continent of Europe to whom we are less able to do harm, than Russia.We are so separate that it seems impossible that the two nations, by the use of reason or common sense at all, could possibly be brought into conflict with each other.

    1878 Speech, Birmingham, 13 Jan.
  • In the houses of the humble a little library in my opinion is a most precious possession.

    Humble   House   Library  
  • To have two Legislative Assemblies in the United Kingdom would, in my opinion, be an intolerable mischief; and I think no sensible man can wish for two within the limits of the present United Kingdom who does not wish the United Kingdom to become two or more nations, entirely separate from each other.

    Men  
    John Bright, H. J. Leech (1885). “The Public Letters of John Bright”, London : S. Low, Marston, Searle, & Rivington
  • This old aristocracy and Church-ridden, and tradition-ridden country will never grow wiser. Whilst we are fighting for supremacy in Europe, the [United] States are working, and not fighting for it, but winning it all over the world.

    Letter to Cobden on December 30, 1853. "The Life Of John Bright". Book by G. M. Trevelyan, p. 230, 1913.
  • Possibly you are not aware of the fact that the largest sum given by any contributor to the fund is but a trifle when compared with the losses suffered by nearly all the firms in the cotton trade during the disastrous years of the American war.

    John Bright, H. J. Leech (1885). “The Public Letters of John Bright”, London : S. Low, Marston, Searle, & Rivington
  • It is sufficient to say, what everybody knows to be true, that the Irish population is Catholic, and that the Protestants, whether of the Episcopalian or Presbyterian Church, or of both united, are a small minority of the Irish people.

    John Bright (1869). “Speeches on Questions of Public Policy: By John Bright. Edited by James E. Thorold Rogers. In 2 Volumes”, p.534
  • As to the Income Tax, my opinion is that the needful revenue would be fairly and most fairly raised if paid by property, and by individuals in proportion to their property. A Property Tax should be an assessment upon all land and buildings, and canals and railroads, but not on property such as machinery, stock in trade, etc. The aristocracy have squeezed all they can out of the mass of the consumers, and now they lay their daring hands on those not wholly impoverished.

    Letter to his sister Margaret, 1842. "The Life Of John Bright". Book by G. M. Trevelyan, pp. 72-73, 1913.
  • The Government and the Parliament, even the House of Lords, will consent to a large increase of electors; and men who have not considered the subject fully will imagine they have gained much by the concession.

    Men   House   Imagine  
    John Bright, H. J. Leech (1885). “The Public Letters of John Bright”, London : S. Low, Marston, Searle, & Rivington
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    John Bright quotes about: Giving House Opinions

    John Bright

    • Born: November 16, 1811
    • Died: March 27, 1889
    • Occupation: British statesman