I caught a documentary on Fletcher Jones this afternoon. Fantastic piece on the birth and growth of Fletcher Jones from Hawker to national manufacturing brand. The docco ended with a great quote I wanted to capture.

A passerby saw three men cutting stone at a building site. “What is it you’re doing?” he said to the first. “Can’t you see, I’m cutting stone.” he replied. “I’m working for the basic wage.” said the second. And the third man, with shiny eyes answered, “I’m helping to build a Cathedral.”

Well we’ve been blessed with more than our fair share of Cathedral builders in what otherwise could have been a pretty mundane sort of business.

Brilliant!

If you’ve watched An Inconvenient Truth, hunting this quote on the web should come way after switching to the green-energy option and decommissioning your aircon. But if you do go hunting you’ll find it a bit difficult to locate since it comes from before his prime-ministerial term. I found it quoted in full on some consultant’s site, I tried looking up Hansard for the day but online records don’t start until 1988.

On failing to support France in reversing Germany’s reoccupation of the Rheinland. I’ve no idea of the order or relation of the two statements, the only facts I have is they were both recorded in the house on the same day.

“So they [the Government] go on in strange paradox, decided only to be undecided, resolved to be irresolute, adamant for drift, solid for fluidity, all-powerful to be impotent….”

“Owing to past neglect, in the face of the plainest warnings, we have now entered upon a period of danger greater than has befallen Britain since the U-Boat campaign was crushed… The era of procrastination, of half-measures, of soothing and baffling expedients, of delays, is coming to a close. In its place we are entering a period of consequences…”

Winston Churchill, Hansard - Commons, November 12, 1936