"[I]n God's name, Sir, let us look about us! Let us consider the state of the world as it is, not as we fancy it ought to be! Let us not seek to hide from our own eyes, or to diminish in the eyes of those who look to our deliberations for information, the real, imminent, and awful danger which threatens us, from the overgrown power, the insolent spirit, and still more, the implacable hatred of our natural rivals and enemies! Let us not amuse ourselves with vain notions, that our greatness and our happiness, as a nation, are capable of being separated. It is no such thing. The choice is not in our power. We have...no refuge in littleness. We must maintain ourselves what we are, or cease to have a political existence worth preserving."
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Prime Ministers of the United KingdomPoliticians from EnglandFreemasonsPoliticians from LondonBritish Ambassadors to Portugal
Original Language: English
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Speech in the House of Commons (8 December 1802), quoted in The Speeches of the Right Honourable George Canning. With a Memoir of His Life. Vol. II (1828), p. 48
https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/George_Canning
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George Canning
George Canning (11 April 1770 – 8 August 1827) was a British Tory statesman. He held various senior cabinet positions under numerous prime ministers, including two important terms as Foreign Secretary, finally becoming Prime Minister of the United Kingdom for the last 118 days of his life, from April to August 1827.
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