"Christmas gives us the opportunity to pause and reflect on the important things around us - a time when we can look back on the year that has passed and prepare for the year ahead."

"At a time when we're having to take such difficult decisions about how to cut back without damaging the things that matter the most, we should strain every sinew to cut error, waste and fraud."

"Britain is characterized not just by its independence but, above all, by its openness."

"I have no time for those who say there is no way Scotland could go it alone. I know first-hand the contribution Scotland and Scots make to Britain's success - so for me there's no question about whether Scotland could be an independent nation."

"It is a enduring truth that he who conquers his inner doubts has already won half the war."

"A pure democracy is a society consisting of a small number of citizens, who assemble and administer the government in person."

"In politics, an organized minority is a political majority."

"The whole aim of practical politics is to keep the populace alarmed (and hence clamorous to be led to safety) by menacing it with an endless series of hobgoblins, all of them imaginary."