Hartley Shawcross, Baron Shawcross

Getting up and criticising the other fellow because he's in and you are not seems to me a futile waste of time. Especially as you know in your heart that you would be doing more or less the same thing if you were in his place.

Hartley William Shawcross, Baron Shawcross (4 February 1902 – 10 July 2003) was a British barrister and politician, remembered for his role as the lead British prosecutor at the Nuremberg War Crimes tribunal.

Quotes

There comes a point when a man must refuse to answer to his leader if he is also to answer to his own conscience.

• There comes a point when a man must refuse to answer to his leader if he is also to answer to his own conscience.
  • Statement as UK prosecutor at the Nuremberg War Crime Trials (1945), as quoted in The Nuremberg Trials (1983) by Ann Tusa and John Tusa, ISBN 0815412622

• We are the masters at the moment and shall be for some considerable time.
  • Statement made in a 1946 debate to repeal the Conservatives' "Trade Disputes Act" of 1927 (following a quotation from Through the Looking-Glass in which Humpty-Dumpty observed that the question of definitions of words depended upon who was master: "'The question is,' said Humpty Dumpty, 'which is to be master—that's all.'") The Oxford Dictionary of Quotations, Third Edition, gives the quotation in this form: "We are the masters at the moment, and not only at the moment, but for a very long time to come." This has often been misquoted as "We are the masters now." His obituary in The Times (11 July 2003) states "even if in its authentic form it was intended as a factual description rather than a boast, it did Shawcross a good deal of harm. It was certainly uncharacteristic, for he was neither a bully nor a zealot... he was hardly a fierce party warrior." The Independent [London] (11 July 2003) in its obituary states "he accepted that it was one of the most foolish things he ever said." However, a leader in the New Statesman disputed the Times‍'‍ obituary, citing eyewitness Donald Bruce, Lord Bruce of Donington in support of the wording, "We are the masters now", and mentioning a third version in Hansard, although the speaker is able to modify their contribution.

• Let us not foist this humbug on the world.
  • Response to Soviet disarmament proposals, which he plainly saw as disingenuous, as quoted in Time magazine (9 December 1946)

• All my moves were designed to promote the happiness and wellbeing of my family, rather than fame.
  • As quoted in his obituary in The Times (11 July 2003)

• I know that in my public life I fell below the standards that I had set myself... I have seen what is wrong but not done enough to put it right. I have been more critical than correct. I have had opportunities of great positions in the service of the state, but I have put them aside. I know that I have not devoted myself enough to promoting the good of others.
  • As quoted in The Times (11 July 2003)

• I feel that I've had a happy life, not a very useful life, but a happy one.
  • As quoted in his obituary in The Independent (11 July 2003)

• Getting up and criticising the other fellow because he's in and you are not seems to me a futile waste of time. Especially as you know in your heart that you would be doing more or less the same thing if you were in his place.
  • On his distaste for opposition politics, in an interview with Tom Stacey for the Daily Express, as quoted in The Independent (11 July 2003)

See also

• William Shawcross – son

External links

• Speeches in Parliament at Hansard
• Profile at thePeerage.com