Harold Nicolson on George Curzon, 1st Marquess Curzon of Kedleston

“Courage, devotion, public service: the magnitude of England, the integrity of beauty, the glory of work; such were the ideals by which he achieved his victory, by which he triumphed over pain and tragedy and disappointment.”

“How striking...as evidence of the sane continuity of the English character, have been the universal tributes paid to the memory of Lord Curzon—a sense of national loss manifested in an almost unexpected outburst of national homage.”

“I really think now we shall leave on Sunday and with a Treaty... Of course it is entirely the Marquis [Curzon] absolutely entirely. When I thought he was wrong, he was right, and when I thought he was right, he was much righter than I thought. I give him 100 marks out of 100 and I am so proud of him. So awfully proud. He is a great man and one day England will know it. But you see Britannia has ruled here. Entirely against the Turks, against treacherous allies, against a week-kneed cabinet, against a rotten public opinion—and Curzon has won. Thank God.”

“Lord Curzon...saved Mosul for Iraq. The methods by which he attained this object were characteristic of his unequalled diplomatic skill... In quiet tones Curzon embarked upon what was perhaps the most brilliant, the most erudite, the most lucid exposition which even he had ever achieved. With unemphatic logic he demolished one by one the arguments which Ismet Pasha had advanced. The whole resources of his unequalled knowledge, the whole value of his unexampled experience, the vigour of his superb memory, his supreme mastery of lucid diction, the perfect symmetry of his every phrase, combined with the visual effect of his Olympian presence, rendered his performance one which none of those present (and they were men who had been accustomed to oratory in every form) had ever seen equalled and would ever see surpassed. Even Mr. Washburn Child, who was all too apt to resent Lord Curzon's effortless superiority, was stirred. He records in his diary that the contrast between Ismet Pasha's statement and Lord Curzon's reply was as that "between a Greek temple and a dish of scrambled eggs".”