Henry Palmerston Quotes & Sayings

Dirt is matter in the wrong place. — Henry John Temple, 3rd Viscount Palmerston

Large republics seem to be essentially and inherently aggressive. — Henry John Temple, 3rd Viscount Palmerston

The Schleswig-Holstein question is so complicated, only three men in Europe understood it. One was Prince Albert, who is dead. The second was a German professor who went mad. I am the third and I have forgotten all about it — Henry John Temple, 3rd Viscount Palmerston

We have not eternal allies and we have not perpetual enemies. Our interests are eternal and peretual and those interests it is out duty to follow. — Henry John Temple, 3rd Viscount Palmerston

Peace is an Excellent Thing, and War is a great Misfortune. But there are Many things More valuable than Peace, and many Things Much worse than war. The maintenance of the Ottoman Empire belongs to the First Class, the Occupation of Turkey by Russia belongs to the Second. — Henry John Temple, 3rd Viscount Palmerston

On May 13, he met the official announcement that England recognized the belligerency of the Confederacy. This beginning of a new education tore up by the roots nearly all that was left of Harvard College and Germany. He had to learn - the sooner the better - that his ideas were the reverse of truth; that in May, 1861, no one in England - literally no one - doubted that Jefferson Davis had made or would make a nation, and nearly all were glad of it, though not often saying so. They mostly imitated Palmerston who, according to Mr. Gladstone, "desired the severance as a diminution of a dangerous power, but prudently held his tongue." The sentiment of anti-slavery had disappeared. — Henry Adams

What is merit? The opinion one man entertains of another. — Henry John Temple, 3rd Viscount Palmerston

Dirt is not dirty, but only something in the wrong place. — Henry John Temple, 3rd Viscount Palmerston

We have no permanent allies, only permanent interests. — Henry John Temple, 3rd Viscount Palmerston

Half the wrong conclusions at which mankind arrive are reached by the abuse of metaphors, and by mistaking general resemblance or imaginary similarity for real identity. — Henry John Temple, 3rd Viscount Palmerston

There are no permanent alliances, only permanent interests. — Henry John Temple, 3rd Viscount Palmerston