Barbara Castle, Fighting All The Way (1994), pp. 129–130
“

His socialism was certainly more Toynbee Hall than Marx. Yet he presided over what is now agreed was the most revolutionary of all Labour's governments and he did it without benefit of the usual tricks of the political trade. ... The key to the enigma of his personality lies, I believe, in the fact that he was a decent man who wanted to build a decent society.

— Barbara Castle on Clement Attlee

What It Means

This is a placeholder explanation generated by the low-overhead model. It interprets "His socialism was certainly more Toynbee Hall than Marx. Yet he presided over what is now agreed was the most revolutionary of all Labour's governments and he did it without benefit of the usual tricks of the political trade. ... The key to the enigma of his personality lies, I believe, in the fact that he was a decent man who wanted to build a decent society." in the context of "Barbara Castle, Fighting All The Way (1994), pp. 129–130" to mean that wisdom is timeless.

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Source: Wikiquote: "Clement Attlee" (Quotes about Attlee) The 'What it means' explanation text was generated by Google Gemini Flash (accessed January 18, 2026). https://gemini.google.com/app
Barbara Castle

About Barbara Castle

Barbara Anne Castle, Baroness Castle of Blackburn, PC, GCOT (née Betts, 6 October 1910 – 3 May 2002) was a British Labour Party politician who was the Member of Parliament for Blackburn from 1945 to 1979, making her the longest-serving female MP in the history of the House of Commons of the United Kingdom, until her record was surpassed in 2007 by Gwyneth Dunwoody. She became the Member of the European Parliament for Greater Manchester North in 1979, and later Greater Manchester West (European Parliament constituency) from 1984 to 1989. One of the most significant Labour Party politicians of the 20th century, she served in the Cabinet under Prime Minister Harold Wilson in a number of roles, including as Secretary of State for Employment, Secretary of State for Health and Social Services, and First Secretary of State.