Top 30 Harold Wilson Quotes (2025 Update)

1. “He who rejects change is the architect of decay.”

— Harold Wilson

2. “He who rejects change is the architect of decay. The only human institution which rejects progress is the cemetery.”

— Harold Wilson

3. “A week is a long time in politics.”

— Harold Wilson

4. “The Labour Party is a moral crusade or it is nothing.”

— Harold Wilson

5. “Whichever party is in office, the Treasury is in power.”

— Harold Wilson

6. “The only limits of power are the bounds of belief.”

— Harold Wilson

7. “The labour party is like a stage-coach. If you rattle along at great speed everybody inside is too exhilarated or too seasick to cause any trouble. But if you stop everybody gets out and argues about where to go next.”

— Harold Wilson

8. “One man’s wage increase is another man’s price increase.”

— Harold Wilson

9. “Every dog is allowed one bite, but a different view is taken of a dog that goes on biting all the time. He may not get his licence returned when it falls due.”

— Harold Wilson

10. “I’m at my best in a messy, middle-of-the-road muddle.”

— Harold Wilson

11. “The cumulative effects of the economic and financial sanctions might well bring the rebellion to an end within a matter of weeks rather than months.”

— Harold Wilson

12. “From now on, the pound abroad is worth 14 per cent or so less in terms of other currencies. That doesn’t mean, of course, that the Pound here in Britain, in your pocket or purse or in your bank, has been devalued.”

— Harold Wilson

13. “In politics a week is a very long time.”

— Harold Wilson

14. “I’m an optimist, but I’m an optimist who takes his raincoat.”

— Harold Wilson

15. “Everybody should have an equal chance – but they shouldn’t have a flying start.”

— Harold Wilson

16. “The office of president requires the constitution of an athlete, the patience of a mother, the endurance of an early Christian.”

— Harold Wilson

17. “Courage is the art of being the only one who knows you’re scared to death.”

— Harold Wilson

18. “This party is a bit like an old stagecoach. If you drive along at a rapid rate everyone aboard is either so exhilarated or so seasick that you don’t have a lot of difficulty.”

— Harold Wilson

19. “Selsdon Man is designing a system of society for the ruthlessness and the pushing, the uncaring. His message to the rest is: you’re out on your own.”

— Harold Wilson

20. “The monarchy is a labor intensive industry.”

— Harold Wilson

21. “The main essentials of a successful prime minister are sleep and a sense of history.”

— Harold Wilson

22. “Debating against him is no fun, say something insulting and he looks at you like a whipped dog.”

— Harold Wilson

23. “The ambition of the present Labour government is that every worker in the country will have a greater than average income.”

— Harold Wilson

24. “If the Tories get in, in five years no one will be able to afford to buy an egg.”

— Harold Wilson

25. “Given a fair wind, we will negotiate our way into the Common Market, head held high, not crawling in. Negotiations? Yes. Unconditional acceptance of whatever terms are offered us? No.”

— Harold Wilson

26. “I believe the greatest asset a head of state can have is the ability to get a good night’s sleep.”

— Harold Wilson

27. “There is something utterly nauseating about a system of society which pays a harlot 25 times as much as it pays its prime minister, 250 times as much as it pays its members of Parliament and 500 times as much as it pays some of its ministers of religion.”

— Harold Wilson

28. “I get a little nauseated, perhaps, when I hear the phrase ‘freedom of the press’ used as freely as it is, knowing that a large part of our proprietorial press is not free at all.”

— Harold Wilson

29. “The government have only a small majority in the House of Commons. I want to make it quite clear that this will not affect our ability to govern. Having been charged with the duties of Government we intend to carry out those duties.”

— Harold Wilson

30. “If I had the choice between smoked salmon and tinned salmon, I’d have it tinned. With vinegar.”

— Harold Wilson

31. “Tories never actually talk about getting rid of their leader, then suddenly there us a flash of steel betweent he shoulder-blades and rigormortis sets in.”

— Harold Wilson

32. “Boredom is often a useful instrument in politics. Never underestimate it.”

— Harold Wilson

33. “It is quite clear to me that the Tory Party will get rid of Mrs Thatcher in about 3 years time.”

— Harold Wilson

34. “We are redefining and we are restating our socialism in terms of the scientific revolution.”

— Harold Wilson