“Diplomacy which does not rest on force is the most feeble and futile of weapons, and except for bare self-defence, we have not the force.”

Letter to Lord Lytton (8 March 1877), quoted in David Steele, Lord Salisbury: A Political Biography (2001), p. 108
1870s

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Robert Gascoyne-Cecil, 3rd Marquess of Salisbury photo
Robert Gascoyne-Cecil, 3rd Marquess of Salisbury 112
British politician 1830–1903

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