“You either accept the principle of royal intervention or you don't. And if you don't, you always have the choice of an actual 'Commonwealth' - the beautiful and resonant name given by the English revolutionaries to the most forbidden passage of our history after the removal of the Stuarts.”
1990s, The Monarchy: A Critique of Britain's Favourite Fetish
Context: The evidence is that on 'Commonwealth' questions Her Majesty reserves a certain autonomy when it comes to the expression of an opinion. But you can't have it both ways. Queen Victoria used to browbeat poor Mr Gladstone most dreadfully when it came to overseas or, as they were then called, 'imperial' matters. Either this is proper or it isn't. You either accept the principle of royal intervention or you don't. And if you don't, you always have the choice of an actual 'Commonwealth' - the beautiful and resonant name given by the English revolutionaries to the most forbidden passage of our history after the removal of the Stuarts.
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Christopher Hitchens 305
British American author and journalist 1949–2011Related quotes
Variant: Every breath is a choice. Every minute is a choice. To be or not to be. Every time you don't throw yourself down the stairs, that's a choice. Every time you don't crash your car, you re-enlist.
Source: Survivor
“When you love someone, you don't have a choice. Love takes your choices away.”
Source: City of Ashes; Clary Fray
“When you have to make a choice and don't make it, that is in itself a choice.”
“Don't leave a stone unturned. It's always something, to know you have done the most you could.”
“Honestly, if you're given the choice between Armageddon or tea, you don't say "what kind of tea?"”
In a widely reported post https://encrypted.google.com/search?q=%22Honestly,%20if%20you're%20given%20the%20choice%20between%20Armageddon%20or%20tea,%20you%22&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8 from his Twitter account (25 February 2009) https://twitter.com/neilhimself/status/1250594057
Epilogue. p.179, 180
Writing Down the Bones (1986)