Clive Ponting famous quotes

Last updated: Sep 5, 2024

Despite the creations of new sections, secret intelligence activity remained mistrusted and neglected in military circles, although there were a few enthusiasts like Baden-Powell, who went on foreign trips disguised as a butterfly collector and regarded spying as sport.
-- Clive Ponting

#Sports #Military #Butterfly
All Cabinet Ministers and other senior ministers are still sworn in as Privy Counsellors for life. The oath (which dates back to the thirteenth-century and has been described as Britain's oldest secrecy provision) commits them to keep all advice to the monarch secret.
-- Clive Ponting

#Senior #Advice #Secret
...this initiation ceremony, known as 'signing the Official Secrets Act', has no legal force; everyone is bound by the Act whether they sign the form or not.
-- Clive Ponting

#Secret #Force #Form
Until the late-nineteenth-century the House of Commons maintained a formal ban on the reporting of its debates.
-- Clive Ponting

#House #Debate #Bans
...a Conservative backbencher called Margaret Thatcher managed, despite front bench opposition, to get enacted her Public Bodies (Admission to Meetings) Act 1960, which was aimed at opening up council meetings to both press and public.
-- Clive Ponting

#Opening Up #Benches #Body

Basketball is my favorite sport, and I'm also a very passionate football fan.
I've always envied the kind of coach who could go completely out of his mind and nobody would know the difference.
Boxing is an all year round sport. You never know when they're going to call you, so you got to stay ready.
I'm just very wary that once you start military operations in any country, it's very difficult to predict what the outcome is.
Congressmen who willfully take action during wartime that damages morale and undermine the military are saboteurs and should be arrested, exiled, or hung
What one can be, one must be!
In the military, you learn the essence of people. You see so many examples of self-sacrifice and moral courage. In the rest of life you don't get that many opportunities to be sure of your friends.
'Firewall' seems both scary and protective at the same time. And how often does that happen within one word besides 'military' and 'government?'
You can be betrayed in your sleep. The whole world can tilt while you're dreaming of butterflies.
I want to chase the butterflies.

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