Quotes

[referring to the Versailles conference and his two Allied colleagues, Woodrow Wilson and Georges Clemenceau] I think I did as well as might be expected, seated as I was between Jesus Christ and Napoléon Bonaparte.

Don't be afraid to take a big step if one is indicated; you can't cross a chasm in two small jumps.

Germany does not want war. Hitler does not want war. He is a most remarkable personality, one of the greatest I have ever met in the whole of my life, and I have met some very great men. Affection is a quite inadequate word to describe the attitude of the German people towards Hitler. It amounts almost to worship. I have never seen anything like it. Some men I met who are not Nazis told me that they did not know what the country would have done without him. They are inclined to blame Hitler's supporters for some of the things which they do not approve, but there is no whisper of criticism of Hitler. It is just like our motto, 'The King can do no wrong.'

[on Winston Churchill] He would make a drum of out of the skin of his own mother in order to sound his own praises.

Hitler is one of the greatest men. The old trust him, the young idolise him. It is the worship of a nation hero who has served his country.

The idea of a Germany intimidating Europe with a threat that its irresistible army might march across frontiers forms no part in the new vision.

Do not let us be in a hurry to condemn Germany. We should be welcoming Germany as our friend.

[on Nazi Germany] It is a happier Germany. I saw it everywhere, and Englishmen I met during my trip and who knew Germany well were very impressed with the change.

[on Adolf Hitler] One man has accomplished this miracle. He is a born leader of men. A magnetic and dynamic personality with a single-minded purpose, as resolute will and a dauntless heart. He is not merely in name but in fact the national Leader. He has made them safe against potential enemies by whom they were surrounded.

He rightly claimed at Nuremberg that in four years his movement had made a new Germany. It is not the Germany of the first decade that followed the war - broken, dejected and bowed down with a sense of apprehension and impotence. It is now full of hope and confidence, and of a renewed sense of determination to lead its own life without interference from any influence outside its own frontiers.

He is also securing them against the constant dread of starvation which is one of the most poignant memories of the last years of the War and the first years of the Peace. Over 700,000 died of sheer hunger in those dark years.

{on Adolf Hitler] There can be no doubt that he has achieved a marvellous transformation in the spirit of the people, in their attitude towards each other, and in their social and economic outlook.

I have never met a happier people than the Germans and Hitler is one of the greatest men.