Michael Portillo Quotes

Michael Portillo
Michael Portillo
British Journalist
Born: May 26, 1953
Being Good Me People Politics You
Related authors: Alastair Campbell Caitlin Moran David Attenborough Malcolm Muggeridge Martin Bashir Nigella Lawson Rose George Tony Wilson
I look back on my schooldays with a warm glow of nostalgia. Michael Portillo
Back Look Glow Nostalgia Warm
Of all the places I've visited in my life, Egypt has been the most fascinating. I've explored almost the whole country: Cairo and the Pyramids, Alexandria, the temples of Luxor and Karnak, the Valleys of the Kings and the Queens and the Nobles. Michael Portillo
Life My Life Country Alexandria Valleys Visited Has-Been Temples Kings Noble Almost Pyramids Most Queens Been Egypt Places Explored Fascinating Whole
I love a good meal on a train, and if I'm travelling on a discount ticket, the challenge is to eat more than the price of the fare. Michael Portillo
Love Good Challenge Meal Good Meal Eat More Price Ticket Discount Train Than Fare Travelling
No restaurant, however brilliantly situated, can give you the constantly changing views that you can see from a railway. Revolving restaurants at the tops of tall buildings try to compete, but spinning around is no substitute for speeding along. Michael Portillo
You Try Changing Speeding Tops Restaurant Restaurants Constantly See Spinning Give Along Tall Around Buildings However Situated Revolving Substitute Views Railway Brilliantly Compete
From Brighton to Bradford, from Suffolk to Somerset, I have explored some remarkable buildings and structures that, in different ways, have helped to shed light on the way modern Britain has developed. Michael Portillo
Light Way Ways Some Structures Remarkable Developed Shed Buildings Modern Different Explored Helped Different Ways Brighton Britain
Music turns the world upside down. Michael Portillo
Music World Down Upside Upside Down Turns
My favourite British line is the West Highland line. It was built across moorland where no one had succeeded in building a road. So everything in that area is there because of the railway line. Michael Portillo
Building Everything Favourite Area Had No-One Road Because Built Line West Where Succeeded Across Railway British
If, like me, you're interested in history, Egypt is a place of wonders. It's the land of many civilisations, including Greek, Roman, Christian, and Muslim. Michael Portillo
Me History You Christian Muslim Like Greek Wonders Roman Egypt Place Interested Land Many Including
King Edward VIII was forced to abdicate because he was determined to marry a divorced woman. As a result of that decision, the Queen's father, George VI, was obliged to lead the country through a war that threatened its survival, with all the personal pain portrayed in 'The King's Speech.' Michael Portillo
War Survival Woman Queen Result Decision Father King Country Pain Abdicate Marry Threatened Determined Obliged Through Lead He Divorced Forced Because George Edward Personal Portrayed Speech
In any family, the joy of a wedding must be tinged with a little anxiety. So many marriages fail. Luckily, people often get over such traumas. But for the Royal Family, marriages carry the gravest dangers. Michael Portillo
Family People Joy Anxiety Dangers Marriages Carry Must Wedding Fail Over Get Any Often Little Many Luckily Royal Royal Family
My own father was a refugee from the Spanish civil war in the 1930s, later going on to become a BBC radio producer after World War II. Michael Portillo
War World Father Become Own Later Civil Civil War My Own Going Refugee After Spanish Producer Radio World War World War II
Like so many other grammar schools that flourished in Britain before they were abolished through a mix of ideology and political folly, Harrow County was a fiercely competitive institution, where all boys were taught to strive for excellence. It was precisely because of this demanding regime that results were so good. Michael Portillo
Good Political Demanding Ideology Before Other Strive Abolish Folly Excellence Results Through Institution Like County Schools Because Boy Mix Were Precisely Taught Where Grammar Regime Fiercely Many Competitive Britain
Pablo Picasso first entered my consciousness when I was a boy of about eight years old. Michael Portillo
Old First Entered About Picasso Boy Years Eight Consciousness
My eyes are at different levels, and my right ear's a bit bigger than my left - which showed up particularly in school photographs - so my mother used to call me her 'little Picasso.' Michael Portillo
Me Eyes School Mother Bit Photographs Picasso Particularly Call Left Up Than Different Bigger Which Little Different Levels Used Her Right Ear Levels
Oppositions usually say ridiculous things and must embarrassingly then ditch untenable positions. Michael Portillo
Positions Say Must Ditch Untenable Then Ridiculous Things
For good or ill, communism transformed the globe, but how many of us realise the crucial role played by a Manchester public library - Chethams, the oldest library in the English-speaking world - in the honing of that ideology? Michael Portillo
Good Library Communism World Ideology Honing Crucial Globe How Role Manchester Realise Transformed Public Us Public Library Ill Many English-Speaking Oldest Played
The late 1960s was another time and another world. Michael Portillo
Time World Late Another Another Time
Three letters send a chill down the spine of the enemy: SAS. Those letters spell out one clear message. Don't mess with Britain! Michael Portillo
Enemy Chill Three Down Spell Those Out Spine Clear Clear Message Mess Message Send Letters Britain
Anyone, they say, is entitled to change his mind. Not about the defence of Britain, you're not. You either feel it in your heart, in your bones, in your gut, or you don't. Michael Portillo
You Change Heart Mind Entitled Defence Say Gut About Feel His Anyone Either Your They Say Britain Bones
I have Spanish ancestry and, indeed, speak the language, up to a point. Michael Portillo
Speak Language Indeed Ancestry Point Up Spanish
A wood carving of Quixote on his nag Rocinante graced my childhood home. Michael Portillo
Home Carving Nag His Childhood Wood Quixote
Before my teens, my contemporaries were reading Tolkien and were absorbed by his works, but try as I might, I could not be drawn in, perhaps as something in me resists the epic, medieval-feeling fantasy. Michael Portillo
Me Try Reading Before Teens Drawn Something Could Absorb Perhaps Contemporaries Were His Epic Might Fantasy Works Tolkien
Non-fictionalised accounts of horrific accidents, bereavement, and the outrages of officialdom tend to move us deeply. Michael Portillo
Accidents Bereavement Horrific Tend Accounts Move Us Deeply
My Scottish grandfather, John W. Blyth, was a man addicted to paintings. A manufacturer of linen, he spent all his surplus money on pictures. Michael Portillo
Man Money Addicted Spent John He Pictures Surplus His Scottish Grandfather Manufacturer Paintings
Were we ever to find ourselves living under a totalitarian regime, place no faith in the mercy of your fellow citizens. Michael Portillo
Faith Mercy Living Ourselves Citizens Find Totalitarian Fellow Fellow Citizens Were Place Regime Your Ever
What is it about trains that makes food taste so good? Some of my happiest memories are of prolonged lunches between St. Moritz and Zurich, Bordeaux and Paris, and even between Coimbra and Salamanca. Michael Portillo
Good Food Memories Prolonged Some About Paris Between Makes Trains Taste Happiest Even
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