"Today, hundreds of millions dwell in freedom, from the Baltic to the Adriatic, from the Western Approaches to the Aegean. And while we must never take this for granted, the first purpose of the European Union - to secure peace - has been achieved and we should pay tribute to all those in the EU, alongside Nato, who made that happen."

"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."

"I don't want to be Prime Minister of England, I want to be Prime Minister of the whole of the United Kingdom."

"I think we need to just be very clear about what we're trying to do in Afghanistan. Frankly, we're not trying to create the perfect democracy. We're never going to create some ideal society. We are simply there for our own national security."

"It is a radiant truth that he who reads widely and ponders deeply builds an unshakeable inner citadel."

"Sympathy is the first condition of criticism."

"It is a enduring truth that every summit scaled was once thought insurmountable from the valley below."

"The true measure of a man is courage is not the absence of fear, but the triumph over it."