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Home  »  Familiar Quotations  »  William Pitt

John Bartlett (1820–1905). Familiar Quotations, 10th ed. 1919.

William Pitt

 
1
    Confidence is a plant of slow growth in an aged bosom.
          Speech, Jan. 14, 1766.
2
    A long train of these practices has at length unwillingly convinced me that there is something behind the throne greater than the King himself. 1
          Chatham Correspondence. Speech, March 2, 1770.
3
    Where law ends, tyranny begins.
          Case of Wilkes. Speech, Jan. 9, 1770.
4
    Reparation for our rights at home, and security against the like future violations. 2
          Letter to the Earl of Shelburne, Sept. 29, 1770.
5
    If I were an American, as I am an Englishman, while a foreign troop was landed in my country I never would lay down my arms,—never! never! never!
          Speech, Nov. 18, 1777.
6
    The poorest man may in his cottage bid defiance to all the force of the Crown. It may be frail; its roof may shake; the wind may blow through it; the storms may enter, the rain may enter,—but the King of England cannot enter; all his forces dare not cross the threshold of the ruined tenement!
          Speech on the Excise Bill.
7
    We have a Calvinistic creed, a Popish liturgy, and an Arminian clergy.
          Prior’s Life of Burke (1790).
 
Note 1.
Quoted by Lord Mahon, “greater than the throne itself.”—History of England, vol. v. p. 258. [back]
Note 2.
”Indemnity for the past and security for the future.”—Russell: Memoir of Fox, vol. iii. p. 345, Letter to the Hon. T. Maitland. [back]