Say what you will about Tony Blair – and, frankly, I’d rather you didn’t say much after we’ve been drowned in media reflections on his ten years in office over the past week – but the man’s a superb orator.
I was driving to the South-East last week when he gave his resignation speech. As regular readers will know, I’m always fascinated by political quotes that have proposal relevance. Two of Blair’s passages particularly echoed with me: the first discussed how “decision-making is hard”:
“Doubt, hesitation, reflection, consideration and re-consideration – these are all the good companions of proper decision-making. But the ultimate obligation is to decide.”
“So, of course, the vision is presented in the colours of the rainbow, and then the reality is sketched in the duller tones of black, white and grey.”