Top 13 Quotes by Chris Patten

But the ability to articulate what you are doing, to be clear about it, and to stick to it is, I think, the essence of political leadership.

So, what I say to people is that politics has got to be about principle and values above all. Of course, there are times when you have to make accommodations.

I think that if politics is just about getting your backside on important seats, then it's a pretty worthless endeavor.

In democracy everyone has the right to be represented, even the jerks.

Green politics at its worst amounts to a sort of Zen fascism; less extreme, it denounces growth and seeks to stop the world so that we can all get off.

In a democracy everybody has a right to be represented, including the jerks.

Undoubtedly, at the moment, the major cause of CO2 emission is what happens in developed countries.

It is almost always wrong that the time isn't ripe to decide something. That is always said of difficult problems.

I think that what most surprises anybody who goes into politics from even a modestly cerebral background is the vulgarity of much of the cut and thrust of politics.

I believe in trying to get a balance between individual freedom on the one hand and social responsibility on the other.