Quotes By John Major

I thought I could do something different from any Conservative prime minister before me. But I couldn't.

If you look at things that really affect people's lives - sport, the arts, charities - they were always at the back of the queue for government money - health, social security, defence, pensions were all way ahead. And each of those areas - sports, the arts, the lottery - got relatively petty cash from the government.

September the 11th was a huge shock in the United States. It was the first time you had been hit at home in your own territory by terrorist on this scale.

You don't forget crises and neither does the Queen.

When the euro was born, it was born in the wrong economic circumstances.

I want Britain to punch its weight in the European Community.

Too many people looked to me in the eye and did not tell me the truth.

I don't think nations can stand aside for ethnic cleansing and genocide.

The first requirement of politics is not intellect or stamina but patience. Politics is a very long run game and the tortoise will usually beat the hare.

Ronnie Barker will forever be remembered as one of the great comic actors.

It is time to return to core values, time to get back to basics , to self-discipline and respect for the law, to consideration for the others, to accepting responsibility for yourself and your family - and not shuffling it off on other people and the state.

I think the biggest mistake I made was this wretched ability to see both sides of an argument.

When I was in office the fundraising was done by the party treasurers.

I'm very proud of what my parents achieved and what they stood for. They didn't have much, but in many ways they were richer than most.

Only in Britain could it be thought a defect to be too clever by half. The probability is that too many people are too stupid by three-quarters.

I think the majority of the British people are still sanguine about the need for war.

Well, I think there's a distinction between sexing-up the intelligence and sexing-up the presentation of the intelligence.

I don't have a shred of regret about entering the exchange-rate mechanism.

Recovery begins from the darkest moment.

The British don't runaway from terrorism. We have had 30-odd years of terrorism in our own country from the Irish Republican Army. We're used to it.

Well, I have concerns about the effectiveness of Europe to compete.

Well what would happen is that if Greece defaulted and couldn't pay its debts, all the Greek bonds that are held in other banking systems across Western Europe would suddenly have no value. You could as a knock-on effect create a banking crisis in Western Europe.

Let's turn British inventions into British industries, British factories and British jobs. Let them make pounds for us, not dollars marks or yen for others.