Margot Asquith Quotes (1864-1945)

“Nor can I say that the non-Conformist Conscience has never disappointed me. At one time it was the backbone of this country, nobly presented as it was in old days by the Manchester Guardian.”

“Acts of generosity such as yours are rare and remarkable. When I think of the behaviour of our Liberal friends—men who owe us not only their political reputation but their political salvation and contrast it with what you have done I can only say I am stunned. Bonar Law always said you were the best friend in the world and he was right.”

“Of a smooth society lady, she said, "she told enough white lies to ice a cake." And of a particularly hideous house she'd been to stay in, she said: "It was so uncomfortable – the chairs were covered in apples stuffed with lead. And in the hall, (talking presumably of the butler) "I was met by a stout rhinoceros carrying visiting-cards in one hand, and azaleas in the other."”

“The affair between Margot Asquith and Margot Asquith will live as one of the prettiest love stories in all literature.”

“The lady of the house, notorious Margot, was less remarkable than unlikely to escape remark ever since her supposed début in Benson's Dodo, when she must have been "a resolute little tit", as was said of young Victoria. A woman of emphatic character and affections, she was either an ally or an embarrassment, at moments both. Ebullient, shrewd and tactless, she assisted her consort rather by energy than subtlety, for she had bouts of belief that honesty is thwarted by politeness. "Why," she must say to the Swiss Minister, "are the Swiss the plainest people in Europe?" She was clever but not profound, and said more trenchant things than good ones in her desire to reign over a world which she was always making her own. I was sorry for her when it slipped too soon for a soul irrevocably on the active list. She could not, and would not, be omitted from any call-up of ghosts.”