Top 70 Michael Gove Quotes (2025 Update)

1. “Learning a foreign language, and the culture that goes with it, is one of the most useful things we can do to broaden the empathy and imaginative sympathy and cultural outlook of children.”

— Michael Gove

2. “It is literally the case that learning languages makes you smarter. The neural networks in the brain strengthen as a result of language learning.”

— Michael Gove

3. “The accumulation of cultural capital – the acquisition of knowledge – is the key to social mobility.”

— Michael Gove

4. “I love my parents in the way most children would: for having been there at every point in my youth and childhood, ready to pick me up when I fell and support me when I stumbled.”

— Michael Gove

5. “It’s often the case that successful people invite criticism.”

— Michael Gove

6. “It’s critical that children spend time before they arrive in school in a warm, attractive and inclusive environment, where they can learn through play, master social skills and prepare for formal schooling.”

— Michael Gove

7. “My father had a fishing business in Aberdeen destroyed by the European Union and the Common Fisheries Policy, the European Union.”

— Michael Gove

8. “The single most important thing in a child’s performance is the quality of the teacher. Making sure a child spends the maximum amount of time with inspirational teachers is the most important thing.”

— Michael Gove

9. “Whoever the next prime minister of this country will be, it will be a female prime minister and a female prime minister who has formidable skills and I know whichever one of the two wins they will lead this country well.”

— Michael Gove

10. “Turkey will “inevitably” join the EU in our lifetime unless we vote to leave.”

— Michael Gove

11. “I want there to be an open and positive debate about the path the country will now take. Whatever the verdict of that debate I will respect it.”

— Michael Gove

12. “We have a unique chance to heal divisions, give everyone a stake in the future and set an example as the most creative, innovative and progressive country in the world.”

— Michael Gove

13. “I think it’s appropriate that we simplify, clarify and strengthen, so instead of this nebulousness, we have clarity and authority invested in teachers once more.”

— Michael Gove

14. “If we are to make the most of the opportunities ahead we need a bold break with the past.”

— Michael Gove

15. “As long as there are people in education making excuses for failure, cursing future generations with a culture of low expectations, denying children access to the best that has been thought and written, because Nemo and the Mister Men are more relevant, the battle needs to be joined.”

— Michael Gove

16. “The promise to leave the European Union, end the supremacy of EU law and take back control of our democracy. With my leadership, it will be delivered.”

— Michael Gove

17. “Children themselves know they are being cheated. Ultimately we owe it to our children. They are in school for 190 days a year. Every moment they spend learning is precious. If a year goes by and they are not being stretched and excited, that blights their life.”

— Michael Gove

18. “Proper history teaching is being crushed under the weight of play-based pedagogy which infantilises children, teachers and our culture.”

— Michael Gove

19. “Our most important public service will always be the NHS. And I want to say something clear and unambiguous about the future of the health service.”

— Michael Gove

20. “The big shift in approach on education that we are taking – which is different from what happened before – is that we trust teachers and we trust heads.”

— Michael Gove

21. “In this fallen world, I suspect we will never achieve perfection. But that won’t stop me trying.”

— Michael Gove

22. “You come home to find your 17-year-old daughter engrossed in a book. Which would delight you more – if it were ‘Twilight’ or ‘Middlemarch?’”

— Michael Gove

23. “If we leave the European Union, yes there will be bumps in the road, inevitably, but we will be in a better position to deal with them.”

— Michael Gove

24. “The challenges facing Britain required not just a cool head, but a heart burning with the desire for change – not business as usual but a bold vision.”

— Michael Gove

25. “With the single exception of Park Lane, every north-south route in London slows traffic to the pace of a wounded gnat with pleurisy struggling with a squaddie’s backpack.”

— Michael Gove

26. “I know what it’s like to see someone lose their job as a result of the European Union. I saw my father lose his job, I saw his business go to the wall, I saw 24 people who he employed also lose their jobs.”

— Michael Gove

27. “Boris Johnson is a man of great attributes and great qualities.”

— Michael Gove

28. “Adopting means opening your home, and heart, to a life you’ve never known. But there is nothing as richly rewarding as being an adoptive parent.”

— Michael Gove

29. “The promise to take back control of our borders. I will end free movement, introduce an Australian-style points-based system for immigration, and bring numbers down. With my leadership, it will be delivered.”

— Michael Gove

30. “I am delighted by the support I have received from colleagues. It reflects the optimistic message that I’ve been putting forward.”

— Michael Gove

31. “The common fisheries policy unfortunately led to the devastation of fishing in Scotland. My dad had to close his business. As a result something that he been built up by by grandfather and maintained by my dad disappeared. So my dad suffered.”

— Michael Gove

32. “I notice that the number of cosmetic-surgery operations has risen by 34 per cent in the past year. Once we subtract Jordan, Jodie Marsh and Michael Jackson from those figures, we can see that demand overall may have stabilised.”

— Michael Gove

33. “The British people rejected politics as usual and government as usual. They want and need a new approach to running this country.”

— Michael Gove

34. “There are huge challenges ahead for this country but also huge opportunities. We can make this country stronger and fairer.”

— Michael Gove

35. “One of the things I know about the European Union is that the European Union can destroy jobs.”

— Michael Gove

36. “One of the problems we have is children are not in school long enough in the day and during the year.”

— Michael Gove

37. “I think that the message I have of optimism and hope about Britain’s bright future outside the European Union is shared by many Conservative members and voters – indeed by a majority of the country.”

— Michael Gove

38. “We need a national ambition to build hundreds of thousands of new homes a year, both private and socially-rented – led by someone who will not take no for an answer and who will push for diggers in the ground and homes for all come what may.”

— Michael Gove

39. “One of reasons I was able to go to university was because of the sacrifices my family made.”

— Michael Gove

40. “I will do everything that is required in order to bring immigration down to a level that is manageable, that the public believe is right.”

— Michael Gove

41. “Government has got to invest more money in our NHS. The people who work in it are heroic. They do an amazing job.”

— Michael Gove

42. “I will ensure we honour the instructions the British people have given us. I argued for specific changes in the referendum campaign, I believe in them, I will deliver them.”

— Michael Gove

43. “The promise to use the money we currently send to Brussels and invest it instead on the priorities of the British people – principally in the NHS – and to cut VAT on domestic fuel. With my leadership, it will be delivered.”

— Michael Gove

44. “The first four months of my life were spent in care, before I was adopted by my wonderful parents – my mum and dad – Ernie and Christine. They went on to adopt my sister, who is profoundly deaf, and invested both of us with a love and support that informs everything I do today.”

— Michael Gove

45. “In order to be able to reduce migration we need to be outside the European Union.”

— Michael Gove

46. “It is a belief in human potential that has guided me through my time in Government.”

— Michael Gove

47. “If I’m the British prime minister I won’t be dictated to on the timetable or the manner of the negotiations.”

— Michael Gove

48. “I think more and more respect has been accorded to teachers, and quite rightly so.”

— Michael Gove

49. “For a few spotty years, I was that tragic geek.”

— Michael Gove

50. “I’m a decentralizer. I believe in trusting professionals.”

— Michael Gove