"Edward Norman (then Dean of Peterhouse) had attempted to mount a Christian argument for nuclear weapons. The discussion moved on to “Western values”. Mrs Thatcher said (in effect) that Norman had shown that the Bomb was necessary for the defence of our values. Powell: “No, we do not fight for values. I would fight for this country even if it had a communist government.” Thatcher (it was just before the Argentinian invasion of the Falklands): “Nonsense, Enoch. If I send British troops abroad, it will be to defend our values.” “No, Prime Minister, values exist in a transcendental realm, beyond space and time. They can neither be fought for, nor destroyed.” Mrs Thatcher looked utterly baffled. She had just been presented with the difference between Toryism and American Republicanism."
Quote Details
Added by wikiquote-import-bot
Unverified quote
0 likes
Members of the Parliament of the United KingdomPolitical leadersPoets from EnglandPeople from BirminghamAnglicans from the United Kingdom
Original Language: English
Available Languages (1)
Sources
John Casey, 'The revival of Tory philosophy', The Spectator (17 March 2007)
https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Enoch_Powell
Revision History
No revisions have been submitted for this quote.
Categories
Enoch Powell
politician, linguist, poet
1912 – 1998 · United Kingdom
John Enoch Powell (16 June 1912 – 8 February 1998) was a British politician, classical scholar, author, linguist, soldier, philologist, and poet. He served as a Conservative Member of Parliament (1950–1974), then Ulster Unionist Party (UUP) MP (1974–1987), and was Minister of Health (1960–1963).
352 quotes on TrueQuotesView all quotes by Enoch Powell →
Related Quotes
"Some problems are unavoidable. Some evils can be coped with to a certain extent, but not prevented. But that a nation…"
"Once you go nuclear at all, you go nuclear for good; and you know it. Here is the parting of the ways, for from this …"
"I find in my constituency in the last few weeks an ominous deterioration, which is taking the form not of discriminat…"
"Often when I am kneeling down in church, I think to myself how much we should thank God, the Holy Ghost for the gift …"
"He talks so fascinatingly on history, architecture and many subjects that politics seldom came up, but I should be di…"
"There is a sense of hopelessness and helplessness which comes over persons who are trapped or imprisoned, when all th…"
"She is becoming afraid to go out. Windows are broken. She finds excreta pushed through her letterbox. When she goes t…"
"As I look ahead, I am filled with foreboding. Like the Roman, I seem to see "the River Tiber foaming with much blood.""
"Integration of races of totally disparate origins and culture is one of the great myths of our time. It has never wor…"
"It is advertising that enthrones the customer as king. This infuriates the socialist...[it is] the crossing of the bo…"