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My function in life is not to be a politician in Parliament: it is to get something done. -- Bernadette Devlin
The first years in Parliament I did nothing - nothing to any purpose. My own distinction was my darling object. -- William Wilberforce
England can never be ruined except by a Parliament. -- William Cecil, 1st Baron Burghley
We all know what Parliament is, and we are all ashamed of it. -- Robert Louis Stevenson
A Parliament is nothing less than a big meeting of more or less idle people. -- Walter Bagehot
It wasn't long before people discovered the final horrors of letting an urchin into Parliament. -- Bernadette Devlin
I think we can get respect for Parliament back providing governments and oppositions are frank. -- John Major
Russian Parliament today is a bunch of puppets that just fall in with the instructions from Kremlin. -- Garry Kasparov
Parliament must not be told a direct untruth, but its quite possible to allow them to mislead themselves. -- Norman Tebbit
Parliament will train you to talk; and above all things to hear, with patience, unlimited quantities of foolish talk. -- Thomas Carlyle
The House of Commons is called the Lower House, in twenty Acts of Parliament; but what are twenty Acts of Parliament amongst Friends? -- John Selden
A Parliament is that to the Commonwealth which the soul is to the body. It behoves us therefore to keep the facility of that soul from distemper. -- John Pym
Alcohol is a very necessary article. It enables Parliament to do things at eleven at night that no sane person would do at eleven in the morning. -- George Bernard Shaw
That a Parliament, especially a Parliament with Newspaper Reporters firmly established in it, is an entity which by its very nature cannot do work, but can do talk only. -- Thomas Carlyle
Would it be possible to stand still on one spot more majestically -- while simulating a triumphant march forward -- than it is done by the two English Houses of Parliament? -- Alexander Herzen
Parliament has become so undermined it is almost unable to do the job that people expect of it. A glaring example is the budget bill, where there was no thoughtful debate or scrutiny of the legislation. -- Sheila Fraser
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Dew depends not on Parliament. -- James Otis
One cannot make men good by Act of Parliament. -- Walter Bagehot
Parliament is the longest running farce in the West End. -- Cyril Smith
The object of Parliament is to substitute argument for fisticuffs. -- Winston Churchill
We could not have parliamentary sovereignty with a European Parliament. -- Hugh Gaitskell
The law of the realm cannot be changed but by Parliament. -- Edward Coke
The Scottish Parliament, adjourned on the 25th of March 1707 is hereby reconvened. -- Winnie Ewing
I trust Canadians' capacity to determine who will sit in their Parliament. -- Justin Trudeau
Parliament is more than procedure - it is the custodian of the nation's freedom. -- John Diefenbaker
There's not enough of us in the Northern Territory in Federal Parliament to squabble. -- Nigel Scullion
In England Parliament is above the law. In America the law is above Congress. -- Lord Acton
We ought not to decide hastily against the words of an Act of Parliament. -- Sherrilyn Kenyon
We were asked to host the Pan African Parliament and we agreed to this. -- Thabo Mbeki
I still cherish the memory of walking into the Parliament for the first time. -- Preneet Kaur
Parliament itself would not exist in its present form had people not defied the law. -- Arthur Scargill
Canadians can get Parliament working again. Here's how to do that: elect more New Democrats. -- Jack Layton
It is with deep regret that the determination to assemble Parliament has been so long delayed. -- Henry Addington, 1st Viscount Sidmouth
I am glad to learn that the Parliament Bill has been passed for the Darlington Railway. -- George Stephenson
Sorry, but we live in a democracy and the Government has to be responsive to Parliament. -- Jeremy Corbyn
I've been in the Labour Party 50 years and it's 40-odd since I was elected to Parliament -- Roy Hattersley
No expense has been incurred but what has been approved of and provided for by Parliament. -- Robert Walpole
It is with deep regret that the determination to assemble Parliament has been so long delayed. -- Henry Addington, 1st Viscount Sidmouth
When they are 50 yards from Parliament Hill, they are no longer honourable members, they are just nobodies. -- Pierre Trudeau
I look forward to continuing the debate about Britain's future - in Parliament and across the country. -- Theresa May
On form of government, there should be checks and balances, and PM should be responsible to Parliament. -- Sushil Koirala
I look forward to the day when the Westminster Parliament is just a council chamber in Europe -- Kenneth Clarke
In Parliament we debate on and we decide the laws that are going to govern the country. -- Diane Abbott
We should no longer seek to have Budget surplus by end of Parliament. We should avoid tax rises. -- Theresa May
There must have been good grounds for belief in witchcraft; otherwise Parliament would not have legislated against it. -- Edward Coke
I question why the Department continued to watch the costs escalate without informing Parliament and without considering alternatives. -- Sheila Fraser
Civility is perhaps a quaint notion but civility in Parliament is something we should always strive to uphold. -- Jay Weatherill
Parliament must not be told a direct untruth, but it's quite possible to allow them to mislead themselves. -- Norman Tebbit
When I'm in office I always keep Members of Parliament talking. If they stopped they might start thinking. -- Winston Churchill
If you want to be a government in a minority Parliament, you have to work with other people. -- Stephen Harper
Never had Parliament or the crown, or both together, operated in actuality as theory indicated sovereign powers should. -- Bernard Bailyn
On a craggy bluff above the majestic Ottawa River stands the remarkable embodiment of our system of governance: Parliament. -- John Allen Fraser
If Parliament may take from me one shilling in the pound, what security have I for the other nineteen? -- Richard Henry Lee
No one should be allowed to stand for Parliament without proof that he has taken responsibility for other people. -- John Rhys-Davies
We have a Scottish Parliament and National Assembly for Wales, both elected by fairer votes - involving proportional representation. -- Charles Kennedy
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The first years in Parliament I did nothing - nothing to any purpose. My own distinction was my darling object." -- William Wilberforce
One of the peculiarities of Delhi is that the term 'reform' is associated only with passing of laws in Parliament. -- Narendra Modi
This open resistance to [Parliament's] authority can only have found place among the lower and more ignorant of the people. -- Henry Seymour Conway
I believe in peace-building in any kind of platform, be it a political platform like Parliament or negotiations like peace-building negotiations. -- Safak Pavey
I understand the damage the expenses crisis has done to Parliament, and the paramount importance of restoring trust in our politics. -- George Osborne
I reiterate that I am strongly committed to working with those on all sides of politics to improve how Parliament operates. -- Peter Slipper
The idea that Parliament somehow wasn't going to be able to discuss, debate, question issues around (Brexit) was frankly completely wrong. -- Theresa May
I'd love to play bass with Parliament Funkadelic, but I can't play bass, so I don't think that's going to happen. -- Anthony Bourdain
At times I wonder whether or not your role as a member of Parliament... may in fact inhibit a relationship developing. -- Lara Giddings
My desire to get here [Parliament] was like miners'coal dust, it was under my fingers and I couldn't scrub it out. -- Betty Boothroyd
[To Parliament, when it urged her to marry and settle the succession:] You attend to your own duties and I'll perform mine. -- Elizabeth I
Well it's not a matter for me to say what Llew Smith can or cannot do, he's an elected Member of Parliament. -- Ron Davies
You cannot have man legislating and playing God in Parliament, and at the same time believe that Allah is the only legislator. -- Clarissa Ward
You cannot have man legislating and playing God in Parliament, and at the same time believe that Allah is the only legislator. -- Clarissa Ward
You must build your House of Parliament on the river: so... that the populace cannot exact their demands by sitting down round you. -- Duke of Wellington
I was thrown into the Parliament right away. From 1976 to 1978 I was concerned with the abortion issue, later on with that of divorce. -- Emma Bonino
I was a Member of the European Parliament for a period of time and I saw a lot of European laws and treaties. -- Jean-Pierre Raffarin
The English are very proud of their Parliament, and week in, week out, century after century, they have pretty good cause to be. -- Martha Gellhorn
As I said, the matter of the Pan African Parliament was raised with us by other African countries who said we should host. -- Thabo Mbeki
The Liberal Party will not vote - no Liberal member of Parliament will vote - to take away a woman's right to choose. -- Justin Trudeau
The Massachusetts Land Bank, during Colonial times, prospered, and brought prosperity to the community, until it was forcibly suppressed by special act of Parliament. -- John Buchanan Robinson
What is Parliament for if it is not to be a means to make ministers accountable for the services for which they are responsible. -- Michael Howard
People must not do things for fun. We are not here for fun. There is no reference to fun in any Act of Parliament. -- A. P. Herbert
It's a national failing to think of politics as something that goes on in Parliament. It isn't; it's something that goes on inside us. -- Brian Aldiss
I decided few years ago to leave the bar to pursue a career in politics because I wanted to make a contribution in Parliament. -- George Brandis
There are hundreds of Canadian communities that have given more thought to hiring their rink manager than they have to electing their member of Parliament. -- Preston Manning
I'm a person who promotes the concept of accountability to a great extent, and I've spoken in the Parliament and reinforced the need for accountability. -- Vijay Mallya
If tomorrow morning Brussels should decide to let Turkey in, Italians wouldn't be free to oppose it, neither in Parliament nor through a referendum. A -- Matteo Salvini
Burke said there were Three Estates in Parliament; but, in the Reporter's gallery yonder, there sat a fourth estate more important far than they all. -- Thomas Carlyle
I foresee a Liberal vote so massive and the number of Liberal MPs so great that we shall hold the initiative in the new Parliament. -- David Steel
There's much more we can be doing in Parliament, we could be giving more power back to people at local government level, through local referendums. -- Theresa May
Parliaments are in all cases to declare what is good for the whole; but it is not the declaration of parliament that makes it so. -- James Otis
I won't have you electioneering on my doorstep. Every time you get in trouble in Parliament you run over here with your shirttail hanging out. -- Lyndon B. Johnson
The rights of Englishmen are derived from God, not from king or Parliament, and would be secured by the study of history, law, and tradition. -- John Adams
I didn't much like being in Parliament physically. I found it a bit depressing. It's very dark and heavy. I like being out and about. -- Geoff Mulgan
A balanced tone on Europe will free us to address in depth the domestic economic and social agenda which we neglected throughout the last Parliament. -- Kenneth Clarke
After 30 years in Brussels, I can tell you: The relationship between the Commission and the Parliament has probably never been as good as it is now. -- Jean-Claude Juncker
When you come to Parliament on your first day, you wonder how you ever got here. After that, you wonder how the other 263 members got here. -- John Diefenbaker
I will not contest my parliamentary seat in a sad election that will not produce a Parliament capable of endorsing a realistic reform agenda for Greece. -- Yanis Varoufakis
You must not deprive the colonies of their right to make laws for themselves. Parliament should only make laws necessary for the empire as a whole. -- Thomas Hutchinson
We are demonstrating for services for all the people and not just services for money. It's very important that this message goes to the European Parliament today. -- John Monks
I still believe in what I believed in for 20 years as a Socialist in Parliament, and being a Socialist is not the same as being a utopian. -- Salvador Allende
The day must come when the nation's whole scale of living must be reduced. If that day comes,Parliament must lay the burden equally on all classes. -- Lord Randolph Churchill
In 1765, Parliament passed the Stamp Act, which, as any American high school student can tell you, was an act that apparently had something to do with stamps. -- Dave Barry
In Britain the government has to come down in front of Parliament every day to explain its actions, but here the President never answers directly to Congress. -- Bella Abzug
The responsibility of a minister is to step aside when there is a criminal investigation of the department. That protects the propriety of Parliament and of responsible government. -- Jack Layton
Common European thought is the fruit of the immense toil of translators. Without translators, Europe would not exist; translators are more important than members of the European Parliament. -- Milan Kundera
Only that Swiss in the heart want still a king or at least a strong Upper House of Parliament. Swiss long themselves for less democracy and more dictatorship. -- Peter Bichsel
Parliament is a deliberative assembly of one nation.You choose a Member indeed; but when you have chosen him, heisnotthe Member for Bristol, but heisa Member of Parliament. -- Edmund Burke
The issue here is not gun control. And it's not even astronomical cost overruns, although those are serious. What's really inexcusable is that Parliament was in the dark. -- Sheila Fraser
There is a continuous stream of opinions on governance issues expressed daily, not only in our Parliament and in the print media, but also on talk-radio and social media. -- Anthony Carmona
Notwithstanding all the care and anxiety of the persons who frame Acts of Parliament to guard against every event, it frequently turns out that certain cases were not foreseen. -- Sherrilyn Kenyon
as I became Speaker in 1986, I made a point of setting up a public information office to respond to requests and provide information about Parliament and how it functions. -- John Allen Fraser
Parliament of the country is the repository of the sovereign will of the people, and its successful functioning is a joint responsibility of both the government and the Opposition. -- Pratibha Patil
We can either have a free Parliament or a free people. Personal freedom requires that all authority is restrained by long-run principles which the opinion of the people approves. -- Friedrich August von Hayek
It has been the greatest privilege of my adult and public life to have served, for 32 years, as the Member of Parliament for our local Highlands and Islands communities. -- Charles Kennedy
I grew up in Somalia, in Saudi Arabia, in Ethiopia, and in Kenya. I came to Europe in 1992, when I was 22, and became a member of Parliament in Holland. -- Ayaan Hirsi Ali
[It was] the poverty caused by the bad influence of the English bankers on the Parliament which has caused in the colonies hatred of the English and . . . the Revolutionary War. -- Benjamin Franklin
I said in my inaugural address that I am not the Council's secretary, nor am I the Parliament's lackey. That can sometimes lead to conflicts, which are defused through dialogue. -- Jean-Claude Juncker
Members of the public would be forgiven for thinking that it is MPs who are lazy and that it is Parliament that is failing to provide good value for money. -- Margaret Hodge
The English king's power was curbed by Parliament, though that wasn't always a good thing, as politicians often behave no better than monarchs - there are just more of them. -- Karen Maitland
I was very strenuous for retaining and insisting on it [law of nature], as a resource to which we might be driven by Parliament much sooner than we were aware. -- John Adams
The idea of putting old Browborough into prison for conduct which habit had made second nature to a large proportion of the House was distressing to Members of Parliament generally. -- Anthony Trollope

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