Er - Churchill was born in Victoria's reign and burst into tears at the drop of a hat and, as for his speeches, there was nothing cool about them. However, the general thrust of the article is, undoubtedly, true, although an American might fail to notice distinctions between the Anglo-Saxon-Nordic-Norman bastard race of the English and that race of the British Isles on the Celtic fringe: there is nothing very 'cool' about Rab C Nesbitt or Billy Connolly - or Maud Gonne come to that.

Last edited by NJS (2011-02-26 05:53:28)

http://sedulia.blogs.com/sedulias_quotations/2008/03/heinrich-heine.html

It was interesting reading, Formby. My main point was that he was not a cold fish. Indeed I think that the descriptions of the stiff-upper lip phenomenon are often something of an exaggeration and it is not an exclusively English characteristic - the Germans have it to some extent too.

Last edited by NJS (2011-02-26 07:11:28)

Last edited by formby (2011-02-26 08:59:14)

Everyone in public life has a persona to which they play. But Churchill was the man who ensured that England fought and stood up to Nazism. One shouldn't confuse the one with the other. Similarly, the Queen steadied a man who didn't want to play a public role and allowed him to play the right one. She may well have been snobbish and acquisitive but so what? Those issues affected only those who wanted to meet her, whereas her public role affected an entire nation. Diana wouldn't be the first member of the British aristocracy to find sex attractive but she differs very little from most of us in that respect. On the other hand, holding the hands of kids with AIDS can only make an impact if you're already famous and are prepared to do it.

These people are people and are bound to have their faults. We don't have to worship them to acknowledge that their public lives can justify the respect and admiration they generate. Nor should their private lives be the basis for judging them: very few of us would survive that particular test.

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