Skip to content
Shawords

Quote#Wisdom

I used to dislike the Whigs but in my years of loneliness I have come…

Quote byArchibald Primrose, 5th Earl of Rosebery · 1847–1929

Commonly attributed — not confirmed in an authoritative edition. Cited on Wikiquote to: Letter to Strachey (19 October 1921), quoted in Leo McKinstry, Rosebery: Statesman in Turmoil (2006), p. 526.

English (original)

I used to dislike the Whigs but in my years of loneliness I have come to the conclusion that they governed England better than anybody else. They thought our their measures carefully and adapted them to their times and generation. They were not heroic but they were wise. In modern days we see much heroism but little wisdom.

— Archibald Primrose, 5th Earl of Rosebery

More from Archibald Primrose, 5th Earl of Rosebery