It is impossible to write an article on Menzies without revisiting his famous wit. Here are some of my favourite quotes:
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- To a heckler who said they wouldn't vote for him if he was the archangel Gabriel: "If I were the archangel Gabriel I'm afraid you wouldn't be in my constituency."
- To a heckler who called out: "Tell us all you know Bob, it won't take long!" – "I'll tell you everything we both know; it won't take any longer."
- To a heckler who shouted: "Wotcha gunna do about 'ousing?" – "Put an 'h' in front of it."
- On his visit to the United Nations in 1960: "Mr Khrushchev looked me up and down and said that, for an imperialist, I was not a bad specimen. I told him that for a communist, he improved on closer inspection."
- On religion: "To a practicing politician, I know of no document more disturbing than the 10 Commandments – unless it be the Sermon on the Mount."
- On the law: "I never feel comfortable in the presence of policemen, unless they are sitting beside me at a function."
- On being accused of "superiority" by Labor stalwart Eddie Ward: "There are times when one cannot help feeling conscious of it."
- On John Curtin: "I have received many wounds from John Curtin but none of them have been in the back."
- The public service: "One thing about bureaucrats is that they'll never swallow their young. Leave them alone and you'll find them increasing every year."
- On Dame Pattie: "When people meet my wife they think rather better of me. They say, 'with a wife like that, he can't be as bad as we thought'."
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