The Oxford Dictionary of Quotations Preface

Speech at Labour Party Conference 1 October 1962, in ‘The Times’ 2 October 1962
The Smethwick Conservatives can have the satisfaction of having topped the poll, and of
having sent here as their Member one who, until a further General Election restores him to
oblivion, will serve his term here as a Parliamentary leper.
‘Hansard’ 3 November 1964, col. 71
From now the pound abroad is worth 14 per cent or so less in terms of other currencies. It does
not mean, of course, that the pound here in Britain, in your pocket or purse or in your bank, has
been devalued.
Ministerial broadcast, 19 November 1967, in ‘The Times’ 20 November 1967
Everyone wanted more wage increases, he [Mr Wilson] said, believing that prices would
remain stable; but one man’s wage increase was another man’s price increase.
Speech at Blackburn, 8 January 1970, in ‘The Times’ 9 January 1970
My hon. Friends know that if one buys land on which there is a slag heap 120 ft. high and it
costs £100,000 to remove that slag, that is not land speculation in the sense that we condemn it. It
is land reclamation.
‘Hansard’ 4 April 1974, col. 1441
If I had the choice between smoked salmon and tinned salmon, I’d have it tinned. With vinegar.
In ‘Observer’ 11 November 1962
The Monarchy is a labour-intensive industry.
In ‘Observer’ 13 February 1977
Harold Wilson...was unable to remember when he first uttered his dictum to the effect that: A
week is a long time in politics....Inquiries among political journalists led to the conclusion that in
its present form the phrase was probably first uttered at a meeting between Wilson and the
Parliamentary lobby in the wake of the Sterling crisis shortly after he first took office as Prime
Minister in 1964. However, Robert Carvel...recalled Wilson at a Labour Party conference in 1960
saying ‘Forty-eight hours is a long time in politics.’
In Nigel Rees ‘Sayings of the Century’ (1984) p. 149
The Prime Ministers [at the Lagos Conference, 9-12 January 1966] noted the statement by the
British Prime Minister that on the expert advice available to him the cumulative effects of the
economic and financial sanctions might well bring the rebellion to an end within a matter of
weeks rather than months.
‘The Times’ 13 January 1966
11.104 Harriette Wilson 1789-1846
I shall not say why and how I became, at the age of fifteen, the mistress of the Earl of Craven.
‘Memoirs’ first sentence
11.105 John Wilson
See Christopher North (2.34)