I have always placed my highest and most permanent hopes upon the eternity of the Communal situation. The greater the political progress made by the Hindus, the greater, in my judgment, will the Moslem distrust and discontent become. All the conferences in all the world cannot bridge over the unbridgeable, and between these two communities lies a chasm which cannot be crossed by the resources of modern political engineering." - Meaning and context.">
QuotesCosmos
Letter to Lord Reading (March 1925) on India, quoted in H. Montgomery Hyde, Lord Reading (Heinemann, 1967), p. 387
“

I have always placed my highest and most permanent hopes upon the eternity of the Communal situation. The greater the political progress made by the Hindus, the greater, in my judgment, will the Moslem distrust and discontent become. All the conferences in all the world cannot bridge over the unbridgeable, and between these two communities lies a chasm which cannot be crossed by the resources of modern political engineering.

— F. E. Smith, 1st Earl of Birkenhead

What It Means

This is a placeholder explanation generated by the low-overhead model. It interprets "I have always placed my highest and most permanent hopes upon the eternity of the Communal situation. The greater the political progress made by the Hindus, the greater, in my judgment, will the Moslem distrust and discontent become. All the conferences in all the world cannot bridge over the unbridgeable, and between these two communities lies a chasm which cannot be crossed by the resources of modern political engineering." in the context of "Letter to Lord Reading (March 1925) on India, quoted in H. Montgomery Hyde, Lord Reading (Heinemann, 1967), p. 387" to mean that wisdom is timeless.

Source: Wikiquote: "F. E. Smith, 1st Earl of Birkenhead" (Quotes) The 'What it means' explanation text was generated by Google Gemini Flash (accessed January 18, 2026). https://gemini.google.com/app

Tags

#F. E. Smith, 1st Earl of Birkenhead#political#greater#unbridgeable#conferences#communities#engineering#discontent#permanent#situation#resources#eternity

About F. E. Smith, 1st Earl of Birkenhead

Frederick Edwin Smith, 1st Earl of Birkenhead, GCSI, PC (12 July 1872 – 30 September 1930) was a British Conservative statesman and lawyer of the early 20th century. He was a skilled orator, noted for his staunch opposition to Irish nationalism, his wit, pugnacious views, and hard living and drinking. He is perhaps best remembered today as Winston Churchill's greatest personal and political friend until Smith's untimely death at age 58.