“Your people, sir,—your people is a great beast!”
Memoir of Theophilus Parsons (1859), pp. 109-110
Attributed
Context: One gentleman, whose name I never heard, was an earnest “friend of the people,” and descanted with much enthusiasm upon the glorious future then opening upon this new-born nation, and predicted the perpetuity of our institutions, from the purity and intelligence of the people, their freedom from interest or prejudice, their enlightened love of liberty, &c, &c. Alexander Hamilton was among the guests; and, his patience being somewhat exhausted, he replied with much emphasis, striking his hand upon the table, “Your people, sir,—your people is a great beast!” I have this anecdote from a friend, to whom it was related by one who was a guest at the table. After-dinner utterances have little value, unless, perhaps, their very levity makes them good indicators of the wind. We do not know the qualifying words which may have followed, or the tone and manner of that which was, perhaps, in part or in the whole, a jest.
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Alexander Hamilton 106
Founding Father of the United States 1757–1804Related quotes
Variant: Keep away from people who try to belittle your ambitions. Small people always do that, but the really great make you feel that you, too, can become great.
“Can we allow our hearts to treat our people as members of your great family?”
The first speech at LDP congress
Context: You are very clear with the characteristics of your challengers. You grasp the hearts of your challengers and explicitly compare your hearts with those of the challengers. You are confident of the concepts, abilities to form the concepts and conceptual gaps of your challengers. Finally, I have a piece of concept in the form of both question and suggestion and share with all compatriots throughout the country: Can we allow our hearts to treat our people as members of your great family?
Reply to the speech made by the first Turkish Ambassador to Pakistan at the time of presenting Credentials to the Quaid-i-Azam (4 March 1948)
Like the latter, it seems to be tinged with a definite scepticism. It suggests a lack of faith in my vision. The impression I retain after hearing you shoot it at me a couple of times is that you consider me to be talking through the back of my neck, and that only a feudal sense of what is fitting restrains you from substituting for it the words 'Says you!'"
Source: Right Ho, Jeeves (1934)
