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Tony Benn Quotes

Powerful Tony Benn for Daily Growth

I see myself as an old man and an unqualified teacher to the nation. I think being a teacher is probably the most important thing you can be in politics.

- Tony Benn

Politics, Think, I Think, Unqualified

I've got four lovely children, ten lovely grandchildren, and I left parliament to devote more time to politics, and I think that what is really going on in Britain is a growing sense of alienation. People don't feel anyone listens to them.

- Tony Benn

Politics, I Think, Devote, Alienation

Broadcasting is really too important to be left to the broadcasters.

- Tony Benn

Important, Left, Too, Broadcasters

The Marxist analysis has got nothing to do with what happened in Stalin's Russia: it's like blaming Jesus Christ for the Inquisition in Spain.

- Tony Benn

Christ, Like, Spain, Blaming

Britain today is suffering from galloping obsolescence.

- Tony Benn

Galloping, Britain, Obsolescence

My filing system is messy but orderly.

- Tony Benn

Messy, System, Filing, Orderly

I've had a very full life, and I've enjoyed it very much. I've learned a great deal and feel indebted to all the people who have worked so hard.

- Tony Benn

Deal, Very, Learned, Full Life

I am on the right wing of the middle of the road and with a strong radical bias.

- Tony Benn

Strong, I Am, Middle, Wing

Normally, people give up parliament because they want to do more business or spend more time with family. My wife said 'why don't you say you're giving up to devote more time to politics?'. And it is what I have done.

- Tony Benn

Politics, Giving Up, Devote, Normally

We are not just here to manage capitalism but to change society and to define its finer values.

- Tony Benn

Society, Here, Finer, Manage

I'm not frightened about death. I don't know why, but I just feel that at a certain moment your switch is switched off, and that's it. And you can't do anything about it.

- Tony Benn

Death, Why, About, Frightened

The exhaustion of old age is something people who are younger don't fully appreciate.

- Tony Benn

Old, Exhaustion, Younger, Fully

If you file your waste-paper basket for fifty years, you have a public library.

- Tony Benn

Library, Basket, File, Public Library

Age does take it out of you, and I haven't the energy I had before. Sometimes I have breakfast and sit in this chair, and I wake up and it is lunchtime. In the past, the idea of sleeping through a morning would have horrified me, but you have to accept the limitations that old age imposes on you.

- Tony Benn

Through, Idea, Before, Horrified

The uncut diaries are 16 million words. It's very tiring to do your diary every night before you go to bed.

- Tony Benn

Bed, Before, Very, Every Night

A faith is something you die for, a doctrine is something you kill for. There is all the difference in the world.

- Tony Benn

Die, All The Difference, Doctrine

Most things in life are moments of pleasure and a lifetime of embarrassment; photography is a moment of embarrassment and a lifetime of pleasure.

- Tony Benn

Moments, Pleasure, Most, Embarrassment

I've been a member of the Labour Party sixty five years, and I remain in it, but I think it's all about campaigning for justice and peace, and if you do that, you get a lot of support.

- Tony Benn

Think, Sixty, Labour Party, Campaigning

Making mistakes is part of life. The only things I would feel ashamed of would be if I had said things I hadn't believed in order to get on. Some politicians do do that.

- Tony Benn

Some, Making, Ashamed, Believed

The House of Lords is the British Outer Mongolia for retired politicians.

- Tony Benn

British, Lords, Outer, Retired

You have to try to build support around causes. It is uniting to campaign on a single issue, and it is never just a single issue; it's always more than that.

- Tony Benn

More, Always, Issue, Uniting

I can't go to bed if I haven't done my diary. I always record them just as I've always recorded all my interviews and speeches.

- Tony Benn

Go, Bed, Always, Recorded

It's the same each time with progress. First they ignore you, then they say you're mad, then dangerous, then there's a pause and then you can't find anyone who disagrees with you.

- Tony Benn

Say, Dangerous, Each Time, They Say

At the end of my life, I was told to vote for it for pensioners; I' m not in favour of means tests for pensioners or anybody.

- Tony Benn

My Life, Anybody, Means, Favour

I think if you're going to be committed to doing anything, you really have to care about it, and I suppose that is a romantic idea.

- Tony Benn

Doing, Think, Committed, Suppose

All war represents a failure of diplomacy.

- Tony Benn

Failure, War, Represents, Diplomacy

I believe the more difficult the circumstances, the more people will be inclined to trust those in charge at the moment.

- Tony Benn

Trust, Circumstances, Charge, I Believe The

Someone comes every morning at nine o'clock to see if I am still alive. I do get lonely, yes, but I have the children who come and see me. I see all my children every week, and there are the grandchildren, too.

- Tony Benn

Week, Alive, Nine, Lonely

I've made every mistake - but mistakes are how you learn.

- Tony Benn

Learn, How, Made, Mistake

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