Everything you ever wanted to know about how other people look at us and how we look at ourselves. Warts and all, we've put together a few thoughts, quotations, writings and sayings, from people of different backgrounds and nationalities.
There is a recurring theme, a common thread that runs through many of them, even though they span the last 1000 years of our history. This will help to show who we are and what has shaped our national character. Hopefully it will also shead a little light on the two sides of the same coin that make up the English identity and show how little it has changed.
Fair play, tolerance and freedom. Over the last millennium all of these qualities have marked us out as a nation and so, in the future, will continue to do so... They also say that we're always pi***d, completely arrogant and hate foreigners... Ah well, nobody's perfect!
cecil john rhodes (1853-1902)
"Ask any man what nationality he would prefer to be, and ninety nine out of a hundred will tell you that they would prefer to be Englishmen".
snorri sturluson (1178-1241) - medieval icelandic writer
"Some people reckoned up all King Harald's (King of Norway) great achievements, and said that nothing would be too difficult for him. But there were others who said that England would be very hard to conquer. It was very populous and the warriors who were known as the king's Housecarls were so valiant, that any one of them was worth two of the best in King Harald's army".
(Referring to King Harold of Norway's forthcoming invasion of England - His Viking army was destroyed by Harold Godwinsson, King of England, at Stamford Bridge)
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ralph waldo emerson (1803-1882) - american philosopher & poet
"I feel in regard to this aged England, that she see a little better on a cloudy day and that, in a storm of battle and calamity, she has a secret vigour and a pulse like a cannon".
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emmanuel van meteren - dutch merchant
"The people are bold, courageous, ardent and cruel in war. But very inconstant, rash, vainglorious, light and deceiving. And very suspicious, especially of foreigners, whom they despise".
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general smuts - south african leader (1940)
"We must choose our friends for the future. I choose the country under which we suffered 40 to 50 years ago but who, when we were at their mercy, treated us as a Christian people".
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sir winston churchill (1874-1965)
"There is a forgotten, nay almost forbidden word, which means more to me than any other. That word is England".
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unknown german author
"The inhabitants are extremely proud and overbearing. They care little for foreigners, but scoff and laugh at them".
(Describing visit to England by Frederick, Duke of Wurttemberg in 1592)
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king harold II (1022-1066)
"I will give him seven feet of English ground, or as much more as he may be taller than other men".
(When asked, before the Battle of Stamford Bridge, what he would offer the invading Norwegian King)
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bill burford - author of "among the thugs"
"Someone shouted that we were all English. Why are we running? The English don't run. And so it went on. Having fled in panic, some of the supporters would then remember that they were English and this was important, and they would remind the others that they too were English, and this was important, and with renewed sense of national identity, they would come abruptly to a halt, turn around, and charge the Italian police".
(upon witnessing English football hooligans fighting a pitched battle with the Italian police, Sardinia 1990)
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jean froissart (1333-1410) - french poet
"The more blood they shed, the crueller and more ruthless they become. They're fiery and furious, they quickly grow angry and take a long time to calm down".
(Witnessing the character of English troops as they advanced through France in the 15th century)
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arthur wellesley (1769-1852) - the duke of wellington
"The scum of the earth. The mere scum of the earth".
(Describing his own army in the nineteenth century)
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george orwell (1903-1950) - english author
"In left-wing circles it is always felt that there is something slightly disgraceful in being an Englishman, and that it is a duty to snigger at every English institution, from horse racing to suet puddings. It is a strange fact, but it is unquestionably true, that almost any English intellectual would feel more ashamed of standing to attention during "God Save the King" than stealing from a poor box".
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sir winston churchill (1874-1965)
"What is our policy?... To wage war against a monstrous tyranny, never surpassed in the dark lamentable catalogue of human crime. What is our aim?... Victory... Victory at all costs. Victory in spite of all terror. Victory, however long and hard the road may be. For without victory, there is no survival".
(Extract from a speech delivered on May 13th 1940)
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arthur bryant - historian
"All ultimately intermarried to produce a race of many strains, which may account for the paradox that a people famed for stolid, patient, practical common-sense; a nation as Napoleon said, of "shopkeepers", has produced more adventurers, explorers and poets than probably any other in history".
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charles churchill (1731-1764) - english poet
"Be England what she will. With all her faults, she is my country still".
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
george santayana - spanish/american philosopher
"Never, since the heroic days of Greece, has the world had such a sweet, just, boyish master".
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
douglas jerrold (1803-1875) - english author & journalist
"The best thing I know between England and France is the sea".
(Re: The Anglo-French Alliance)
There is a recurring theme, a common thread that runs through many of them, even though they span the last 1000 years of our history. This will help to show who we are and what has shaped our national character. Hopefully it will also shead a little light on the two sides of the same coin that make up the English identity and show how little it has changed.
Fair play, tolerance and freedom. Over the last millennium all of these qualities have marked us out as a nation and so, in the future, will continue to do so... They also say that we're always pi***d, completely arrogant and hate foreigners... Ah well, nobody's perfect!
cecil john rhodes (1853-1902)
"Ask any man what nationality he would prefer to be, and ninety nine out of a hundred will tell you that they would prefer to be Englishmen".
snorri sturluson (1178-1241) - medieval icelandic writer
"Some people reckoned up all King Harald's (King of Norway) great achievements, and said that nothing would be too difficult for him. But there were others who said that England would be very hard to conquer. It was very populous and the warriors who were known as the king's Housecarls were so valiant, that any one of them was worth two of the best in King Harald's army".
(Referring to King Harold of Norway's forthcoming invasion of England - His Viking army was destroyed by Harold Godwinsson, King of England, at Stamford Bridge)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
ralph waldo emerson (1803-1882) - american philosopher & poet
"I feel in regard to this aged England, that she see a little better on a cloudy day and that, in a storm of battle and calamity, she has a secret vigour and a pulse like a cannon".
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
emmanuel van meteren - dutch merchant
"The people are bold, courageous, ardent and cruel in war. But very inconstant, rash, vainglorious, light and deceiving. And very suspicious, especially of foreigners, whom they despise".
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
general smuts - south african leader (1940)
"We must choose our friends for the future. I choose the country under which we suffered 40 to 50 years ago but who, when we were at their mercy, treated us as a Christian people".
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
sir winston churchill (1874-1965)
"There is a forgotten, nay almost forbidden word, which means more to me than any other. That word is England".
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
unknown german author
"The inhabitants are extremely proud and overbearing. They care little for foreigners, but scoff and laugh at them".
(Describing visit to England by Frederick, Duke of Wurttemberg in 1592)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
king harold II (1022-1066)
"I will give him seven feet of English ground, or as much more as he may be taller than other men".
(When asked, before the Battle of Stamford Bridge, what he would offer the invading Norwegian King)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
bill burford - author of "among the thugs"
"Someone shouted that we were all English. Why are we running? The English don't run. And so it went on. Having fled in panic, some of the supporters would then remember that they were English and this was important, and they would remind the others that they too were English, and this was important, and with renewed sense of national identity, they would come abruptly to a halt, turn around, and charge the Italian police".
(upon witnessing English football hooligans fighting a pitched battle with the Italian police, Sardinia 1990)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
jean froissart (1333-1410) - french poet
"The more blood they shed, the crueller and more ruthless they become. They're fiery and furious, they quickly grow angry and take a long time to calm down".
(Witnessing the character of English troops as they advanced through France in the 15th century)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
arthur wellesley (1769-1852) - the duke of wellington
"The scum of the earth. The mere scum of the earth".
(Describing his own army in the nineteenth century)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
george orwell (1903-1950) - english author
"In left-wing circles it is always felt that there is something slightly disgraceful in being an Englishman, and that it is a duty to snigger at every English institution, from horse racing to suet puddings. It is a strange fact, but it is unquestionably true, that almost any English intellectual would feel more ashamed of standing to attention during "God Save the King" than stealing from a poor box".
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
sir winston churchill (1874-1965)
"What is our policy?... To wage war against a monstrous tyranny, never surpassed in the dark lamentable catalogue of human crime. What is our aim?... Victory... Victory at all costs. Victory in spite of all terror. Victory, however long and hard the road may be. For without victory, there is no survival".
(Extract from a speech delivered on May 13th 1940)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
arthur bryant - historian
"All ultimately intermarried to produce a race of many strains, which may account for the paradox that a people famed for stolid, patient, practical common-sense; a nation as Napoleon said, of "shopkeepers", has produced more adventurers, explorers and poets than probably any other in history".
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
charles churchill (1731-1764) - english poet
"Be England what she will. With all her faults, she is my country still".
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
george santayana - spanish/american philosopher
"Never, since the heroic days of Greece, has the world had such a sweet, just, boyish master".
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
douglas jerrold (1803-1875) - english author & journalist
"The best thing I know between England and France is the sea".
(Re: The Anglo-French Alliance)
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