Quotes from Chris Patten

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.

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 suppose I've always carried what is regarded as a bit of unnecessary baggage in Britain. I've always carried the charge that I am an intellectual in politics.

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

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.

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.

All parts of the society need to feel that the police service is their police service, and that does not happen unless all parts of society are represented in the police

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

It is a sort of great Victorian truth that actually, trying to do the right thing is pretty good for you and pretty good for business as well, by and large.

Hong Kong's people will get what they want, despite China's objections. Freedom invariably wins in the end.

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

I don't think that capitalism should be unbridled, if by 'unbridled' you mean unregulated.

Those of us who had a perfectly happy childhood should be able to sue for deprivation of literary royalties.

It's an astonishing mixture of Chinese hard work, entrepreneurialism, self-discipline and individual guts along with good old-fashioned British public administration.

Know thyself' was Socrates' challenge, a challenge both to personal memory and to honesty.

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

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

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.

Throwing young men out of work, throwing people into poverty and ending business life don't promote stability in the Palestinian territories,.

Of course, there were huge disagreements in the arguments of military intervention, .. There is no point at the moment on focusing on those disagreements.

It is curious that atheists have proved to be so intolerant of those who have a faith.

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

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

Hong Kong represents the kind of Asia with which both West and East are comfortable... It offers, in that sense, a vision for the future of Asia.