Boyle Roche Quotes

United Kingdom, Politician
October 1, 1736 – June, 5, 1807.

Sir Boyle Roche, 1st Baronet was an Irish politician. After a distinguished career in North America with the British Army, Roche became a member of the Irish House of Commons in 1775, generally acting in support of the viceregal government. He is better remembered for the language of his speeches than his politics—they were riddled with mixed metaphors.

Every pint bottle should contain a quart.

Boyle Roche
Why should we put ourselves out of our way to do anything for posterity? For what has posterity ever done for us?

Boyle Roche
- Done
- Why

There is no Levitical decree between nations, and on this occasion I can see neither sin nor shame in marrying our own sister.

Boyle Roche
- Sister
I hope, my lord, if you ever come within a mile of my house that you will stay there all night.

Boyle Roche
- Hope
- House
- Night
How can I be in two places at once, unless I were a bird?

Boyle Roche
- Bird
Half the lies our opponents tell about us are untrue.

Boyle Roche
- Lies
Mr Speaker, I smell a rat; I see him forming in the air and darkening the sky; but I will nip him in the bud.

Boyle Roche
- Air
- Sky
...they would cut us to mincemeat, and throw our bleeding heads on that table to stare us in the face.

Boyle Roche

I answer in the affirmative with an emphatic 'No.'

Boyle Roche
While I write this letter, I have a pistol in one hand and a sword in the other.

Boyle Roche
- Hand
The cup of Ireland's misery has been overflowing for centuries and is not yet half full.

Boyle Roche
Ireland and England are like two sisters; I would have them embrace like one brother.

Boyle Roche
- Brother
We should silence anyone who opposes the right to freedom of speech.

Boyle Roche
- Freedom
- Silence
The only thing to prevent what's past is to put a stop to it before it happens.

Boyle Roche
- Past
- Stop

The best way to avoid danger is to meet it plump.

Boyle Roche
All along the untrodden paths of the future, I can see the footprints of an unseen hand.

Boyle Roche
- Future
- Hand
It would surely be better … to give up not only a part, but, if necessary, even the whole, of our constitution, to preserve the remainder!

Boyle Roche
- Up