Benn Quotes & Sayings

Tony Benn and I were very close, very close friends for 30, 40 years. We talked to each other a great deal, and we were great friends. And I was with him shortly before he died, talking about prospects of the world and prospects for peace. And I'm very sad that he's gone. — Jeremy Corbyn

Cabinet members are soon overwhelmed by the insistent demands of running their departments. On the whole, a period in high office consumers intellectual capital; it does not create it ... The less ministers know at the outset, the more dependent they are on the only sources of available knowledge; the permanent officials. — Tony Benn

I think the truth is that the Labour Party isn't believed any more because people suspect it will say anything to get votes. The rebuilding of some radical alternatives to Thatcherism - and by that I mean all-party Thatcherism - will require us to do some very difficult things — Tony Benn

My day rotates around my family. I am very lucky. — Tony Benn

It is wholly wrong to blame Marx for what was done in his name, as it is to blame Jesus for what was done in his — Tony Benn

On the National Executive sat Charles Clarke, looking like a rather manky chimpanzee with his unkempt beard, jug ears and his air of surly aggression. — Tony Benn

We are paying a heavy political price for 20 years in which, as a party, we have played down our criticism of capitalism and soft-peddled our advocacy of socialism — Tony Benn

An educated, healthy and confident nation is harder to govern. — Tony Benn

I think if you're going to be committed to doing anything, you really have to care about it, and I suppose that is a romantic idea. — Tony Benn

I think Mrs Thatcher did more damage to democracy, equality, internationalism, civil liberties, freedom in this country than any other Prime Minister this century. When the euphoria surrounding her departure subsides you will find that in a year or two's time there will not be a Tory who admits ever supporting her. People in the street will say, thank God she's gone — Tony Benn

It was always my intention to direct. I went to film school. And then I wanted to know how to work with actors, so I went to acting school. And then by the end of that, I caught the bug. — Benn Northover

Britain today is suffering from galloping obsolescence. — Tony Benn

Asters

Asters - sweltering days

old adjuration/curse,

the gods hold the balance

for an uncertain hour.


Once more the golden flocks

of heaven, the light, the trim -

what is the ancient process

hatching under its dying wings?


Once more the yearned-for,

the intoxication, the rose of you -

summer leaned in the doorway

watching the swallows -


one more presentiment

where certainty is not hard to come by:

wing tips brush the face of the waters,

swallows sip speed and night. — Gottfried Benn

I was stunned with outrage. — Tony Benn

Thanks to the tabloid campaigns I have many death threats and I was very pleased to get another one the other day. — Tony Benn

It's the same each time with progress. First they ignore you, then they say you're mad, then dangerous, then there's a pause and then you can't find anyone who disagrees with you. — Tony Benn

When I saw how the European Union was developing, it was very obvious what they had in mind was not democratic. In Britain, you vote for a government so the government has to listen to you, and if you don't like it you can change it. — Tony Benn

We used to have a War Office, but now we have a Ministry of Defence, nuclear bombs are now described as deterrents, innocent civilians killed in war are now described as collateral damage and military incompetence leading to US bombers killing British soldiers is cosily described as friendly fire. Those who are in favour of peace are described as mavericks and troublemakers, whereas the real militants are those who want the war. — Tony Benn

I am a public library — Tony Benn

Through me the energy policy of the whole Common Market is being held up. Without opening old wounds, it pleases me no end. — Tony Benn

The exhaustion of old age is something people who are younger don't fully appreciate. — Tony Benn

He who has money, lives long: he who has authority, can do no wrong: he who has might, establishes right. Such is history! Ecce historia! — Gottfried Benn

I don't believe in the hereditary principle in the House of Lords. Imagine going to the dentist, sitting in the chair and he says, 'I'm not a dentist myself, but my father was a dentist and his father before him. Now, open wide! — Tony Benn

The 1973 Labour Conference will have before it the most radical programme the Party has prepared since 1945. — Tony Benn

There is no moral difference between a Stealth bomber and a suicide bomber. They both kill innocent people for political reasons. — Tony Benn

American colleges and universities are propaganda machines — Walter Benn Michaels

People have different ideas of who I am. And I think because I'm very private, people make up the strangest ideas of who and why and what. — Benn Northover

I haven't had the recognition I deserve, You can go back to anybody's career - Ricky Hatton, Joe Calzaghe, David Haye, Amir Khan, Chris Eubank, Nigel Benn, Steve Collins, Naseem Hamed. My record is better than all of theirs. — Carl Froch

I believe the more difficult the circumstances, the more people will be inclined to trust those in charge at the moment. — Tony Benn

After the war people said, 'If you can plan for war, why can't you plan for peace?' When I was 17, I had a letter from the government saying, 'Dear Mr. Benn, will you turn up when you're 17 1/2? We'll give you free food, free clothes, free training, free accommodation, and two shillings, ten pence a day to just kill Germans.' People said, well, if you can have full employment to kill people, why in God's name couldn't you have full employment and good schools, good hospitals, good houses? — Tony Benn

What power have you got? Where did you get it from? In whose interests do you exercise it? To whom are you accountable? And how can we get rid of you — Tony Benn

The flag of radicalism which has been hoisted in Wolverhampton is beginning to look like the one that fluttered 25 years ago over Dachau and Belsen — Tony Benn

The one thing that is absolutely essential is that there shouldn't be any governmental control [of the media] directly or indirectly. — Tony Benn

Clare Short, who today poses as an anti-war warrior but was six years ago Blair's cheerleader-in-chief for bombing Yugoslavia. After the attack on Radio-Televizija Jugoslavenska she said, 'The propaganda machine is prolonging the war and it's a legitimate target'. Amnesty International pointed out 'intentionally directing attacks against civilian objects is a war crime under the Rome Statutes of the International Criminal Court'. — Tony Benn

Some of the jam we thought was for tomorrow, we've already eaten — Tony Benn

If I rescued a child from drowning, the press would no doubt headline the story: 'Benn grabs child — Tony Benn

I've got four lovely children, ten lovely grandchildren, and I left parliament to devote more time to politics, and I think that what is really going on in Britain is a growing sense of alienation. People don't feel anyone listens to them. — Tony Benn

The Bretton Woods saga unfurled at a unique crossroads in modern history. An ascendant anticolonial superpower, the United States, used its economic leverage over an insolvent allied imperial power, Great Britain, to set the terms by which the latter would cede its dwindling dominion over the rules and norms of foreign trade and finance. Britain cooperated because the overriding aim of survival seemed to dictate the course. The monetary architecture that Harry White designed, and powered through an international gathering of dollar-starved allies, ultimately fell, its critics agree, of its own contradictions. — Benn Steil

Parliamentary democracy is, in truth, little more than a means of securing a periodical change in the management team, which is then allowed to preside over a system that remains in essence intact. If the British people were ever to ask themselves what power they truly enjoyed under our political system they would be amazed to discover how little it is — Tony Benn

I'd rather die on my feet making a speech than die of Alzheimer's - and that's what I'm planning to do. — Tony Benn

I've been a member of the Labour Party sixty five years, and I remain in it, but I think it's all about campaigning for justice and peace, and if you do that, you get a lot of support. — Tony Benn

The Internet is only the street corner meeting on a big scale — Tony Benn

Choice depends on the freedom to choose and if you are shackled with debt you don't have the freedom to choose. — Tony Benn

My filing system is messy but orderly. — Tony Benn

She had small animal bones. They moved her skin - surface swimming. — Tom Benn

The people who have sacrificed their view in order to get to the top have very often left no footprints in the sands of time. — Tony Benn

Clement Attlee, who looked like a sadistic sanitary inspector... — Tony Benn

I do not share the general view that market forces are the basis for political liberty. Every time I see a homeless person living in a cardboard box in London, I see that person as a victim of market forces. Everytime I see a pensioner who cannot manage, I know that he is a victim of market forces — Tony Benn

The general election of 1983 has produced one important result that has passed virtually without comment in the media. It is that, for the first time since 1945, a political party with an openly socialist policy has received the support of over eight and a half million people. This is a remarkable development by any standards and it deserves some analysis ... the 1983 Labour manifesto commanded the loyalty of millions of voters and a democratic socialist bridge-head in public understanding and support can be made. — Tony Benn

The House of Lords is the British Outer Mongolia for retired politicians. — Tony Benn

It is tempting to deny, but if you deny you confirm what you won't deny. — Tony Benn

I now want more time to devote to politics and more freedom to do so. — Tony Benn

I'm not frightened about death. I don't know why, but I just feel that at a certain moment your switch is switched off, and that's it. And you can't do anything about it. — Tony Benn

A letter today from a Mrs Gladys Freeman, 45 Sebastopol Terrace, Blackpool. 'Sir, reference the room you had here during the party conference season. Well, we know what it is. We know who done it. But for heaven's sake tell us where it is! — Tony Benn

When Tony Benn became a minister in the 1960s
and I think this must be apocryphal
he had a huge map of Britain hung upside down in his office, so the channel was at the top and Scotland was at the bottom and, apparently, he said, "This is how we need to look at this country, with the money and the power draining by force of gravity out of the south east." That was a great idea. I rather liked him for that. I don't know if it's actually true or not. — Neal Ascherson

Democracy is not just voting every 5 years and watching 'Big Brother' in between and wondering why nothing happens. Democracy is what we do and say where we live and work — Tony Benn

They do not comprehend where they are going," Kaz said, whispering his words to the wind.
I knew he didn't mean a particular place. There were no map coordinates to mark the location. He meant that point in time and space where bullet meets bone, where grown men cry rivers of tears; the point you can never return from, even if you live to be ninety. — James R. Benn

Undoubtedly the war with Iraq was a tragedy. I think it was also a crime. — Tony Benn

People would do well to ask themselves how many of their ambitions and aspirations derive from the type of economic system they inhabit and the insecurity and exhaustion it creates, and question the sense and purpose of a society where control of a large portion of life is abdicated under contract in the labour market, and where immense creativity and potential is stifled by the need to do difficult and repetitive tasks in order to earn a wage. — Tony Benn

Although socialism is widely held by the establishment to be outdated, the things that are most popular in British society today are little pockets of socialism, where areas of life have been excluded from the crude operation of market forces and are protected for the benefit of the community — Tony Benn

He referred to Aneurin Bevan as 'Urinal' Bevan. As for the working classes, they couldn't write their own names in shit on a lavatory wall. I said I thought they could. — Tony Benn

If the Queen can reject the advice of a minister on a little thing like a postage stamp, what would happen if she rejected the advice of the Prime Minister on a major matter? If the Crown personally can reject advice, then, of course, the whole democratic facade turns out to be false — Tony Benn

I can't go to bed if I haven't done my diary. I always record them just as I've always recorded all my interviews and speeches. — Tony Benn

She believes in something. It is an old-fashioned idea — Tony Benn

Britain is the only colony in the British Empire and it is up to us now to liberate ourselves. — Tony Benn

If democracy is ever to be threatened, it will not be by revolutionary groups burning government offices and occupying the broadcasting and newspaper offices of the world. It will come from disenchantment, cynicism and despair caused by the realisation that the New World Order means we are all to be managed and not represented. — Tony Benn

Five questions for politicians: 1. What power have you got? 2. Where did you get it from? 3. In whose interest do you exercise it? 4. To whom are you accountable? 5. How can we get rid of you? — Tony Benn

Everything changed, and eleven months later, here I was in the middle of the night with a gungho major, playing secret agent, hoping some Frenchie didn't put a bullet in my skull before I gave the Germans and Italians their chance. — James R. Benn

There is no final victory, as there is no final defeat. There is just the same battle. To be fought, over and over again. So toughen up, bloody toughen up. — Tony Benn

People from my sort of background needed grammar schools to compete with children from privileged homes like Shirley Williams and Anthony Wedgwood Benn. — Margaret Thatcher

There may be a legal obligation to obey, but there will be no moral obligation to obey. When it comes to history, it will be the people who broke the law for freedom who will be remembered and honoured. — Tony Benn

We have been in recess since July, and during that time there have been a fuel crisis, a Danish no vote, the collapse of the Euro and a war in the middle east, but what is our business tomorrow? The Insolvency Bill [Lords]. It ought be called the Bankruptcy Bill [Commons], because we play no role. — Tony Benn

How could she have gone from the most exhilarating thing that has ever happened in her life to a moment filled with pure humiliation? She tries to conjure up the light that skipped in her veins earlier when Charles held her. But it only fades in the familiar darkness. — Nicole Y. Dennis-Benn

I think there are two ways in which people are controlled. First of all frighten people and secondly, demoralise them. — Tony Benn

It's a sketch of clouds moving across the sky at dusk in the form of a woman. The woman appears to be leaping or running as the sun sets in the background. Below is the sea that stirs with her movement; and the hills and mountains that fade behind her. Margot studies it, her face opening up all kinds of ways. — Nicole Y. Dennis-Benn

Having served in eleven Parliaments, it would be difficult to describe this as a maiden speech. It would be like Elizabeth Taylor appearing at her next wedding in a white gown. — Tony Benn

In developing our industrial strategy for the period ahead, we have the benefit of much experience. Almost everything has been tried at least once — Tony Benn

If we can find the money to kill people, we can find the money to help people. — Tony Benn

I've made every mistake - but mistakes are how you learn. — Tony Benn

I've had a very full life, and I've enjoyed it very much. I've learned a great deal and feel indebted to all the people who have worked so hard. — Tony Benn

The thought that my mother would suddenly be a foreigner would upset me very much. — Tony Benn

No medieval monarch in the whole of British history ever had such power as every modern British Prime Minister has in his or her hands. Nor does any American President have power approaching this — Tony Benn

I did not enter the Labour Party 47 years ago to have our manifesto written by Dr Mori, Dr Gallup and Mr Harris — Tony Benn

After fifteen years I have decided to resign my membership of the Dennis The Menace Fanclub. It
brought me no benefits worth mentioning. — Tony Benn

If you can create something useful, its reachable audience (e.g., employers or customers) is essentially limitless - which greatly magnifies your reward. On the other hand, if what you're producing is mediocre, then you're in trouble, as it's too easy for your audience to find a better alternative online. Whether you're a computer programmer, writer, marketer, consultant, or entrepreneur, your situation has become similar to Jung trying to outwit Freud, or Jason Benn trying to hold his own in a hot start-up: To succeed you have to produce the absolute best stuff you're capable of producing - a task that requires depth. — Cal Newport

Never give up hope, that family can be a great source of love, that the eternal inner spirit lives on even when the human body is frail and through positive thinking it can overcome incredible odds. Yes, all of these. But also, that love for others defines us. — Peter Benn

This is the new politics. Personal responsibility. Not leaving it to others. I am my planet's keeper. — Hilary Benn

When you get to No 10, you've climbed there on a little ladder called 'the status quo'. And when you are there, the status quo looks very good — Tony Benn

I sometimes wish the trade unionists who work in the mass media, those who are writers and broadcasters and secretaries and printers and lift operators of Thomson House would remember that they too are members of our working class movement and have a responsibility to see that what is said about us is true. — Tony Benn

The way a government treats refugees is very instructive ... — Tony Benn

I try to operate on two unconnected levels. One on the practical level of action in which I am extremely cautious and conservative. The second is the realm of ideas where I try to be very free — Tony Benn

Our changing climate has changed our politics — Hilary Benn

You have to try to build support around causes. It is uniting to campaign on a single issue, and it is never just a single issue; it's always more than that. — Tony Benn

I think very often the boat-rockers turn out to be the people who are building the craft — Tony Benn

By the end of his sixteen-course meal in Buckingham Palace, Ramsay McDonald discovered he had changed his mind about the workers owning the means of production. From now on, he felt it better that the Dukes and Duchesses should continue to own the means of production. The workers would just have to make do with what was left over. — Tony Benn

There is good and bad in all of us and the Church uses the idea of original sin to control us by saying that, if we do not obey the bishops, we will rot in Hell. — Tony Benn

A faith is something you die for, a doctrine is something you kill for. There is all the difference in the world. — Tony Benn

Someone comes every morning at nine o'clock to see if I am still alive. I do get lonely, yes, but I have the children who come and see me. I see all my children every week, and there are the grandchildren, too. — Tony Benn

I opposed the Suez war, I opposed the Falklands war. I opposed the Libyan bombing and I opposed the Gulf war and I never believed that any of those principled arguments lost a single vote - indeed, I think they gained support though that was not why you did it. What has been lacking in Labour politics over a long period is a principled stand — Tony Benn

If prayer flew as quickly as gossip, all the saints in heaven could not keep up with it. — James R. Benn