"Nye Bevan dies at 4.15 in the afternoon.I regret the loss of this splendid coloured figure and a great parliamentarian and patriot. When I was once being scolded for being malicious in my descriptions of people,Nye protested, "Harold is not malicious at all, He is the angel of pity."

“For seventeen years, he did nothing at all but kill animals and stick in stamps.”

“Dr Johnson is the only conversationalist who triumphs over time.”

“Kennedy reminds me of Lindbergh and I suspect him of wishing to have a tough foreign policy and to worry about prestige. On the other hand, he is on the left, will be nicer to Negroes than to Big Business and has promised to appoint Adlai Stevenson as secretary of state. So it works out 50/50 by me.”

“To be a good diarist, one must have a little snouty, sneaky mind.”

“Clemenceau, Lloyd George and President Wilson... It is appalling that these ignorant and irresponsible men should be cutting Asia Minor to bits as if they were dividing a cake...”

“The Dell, is the most extensive, most varied and most tasteful piece of planting I have ever seen. I have no doubt at all that this is the richest garden I have ever seen. Knowledge and taste are combined with enormous expenditure to render it one of the wonders of the world.”