British Empire/decolonisation and Decline 1945%e2%80%931997

Famous quotes containing the words british, empire and/or decline:

    The British do not expect happiness. I had the impression, all the time that I lived there, that they do not want to be happy; they want to be right.
    Quentin Crisp (b. 1908)

    It is said that the British Empire is very large and respectable, and that the United States are a first-rate power. We do not believe that a tide rises and falls behind every man which can float the British Empire like a chip, if he should ever harbor it in his mind.
    Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)

    The decline of a culture
    Mourned by scholars who dream of the ghosts of Greek boys.
    Stephen Spender (1909–1995)