Reminiscences

IT MAY BE APPROPRIATE to open with a quotation, and who better to pull the curtains than Viscount Eccles who once made a very wise statement: ‘If a man has good manners and is not afraid of people, he will get by—even if he is stupid.’ Ministers did not make encouraging remarks like that when I was young. You will probably agree that if a man is to make any headway in his chosen profession he will need his fair share of opportunities at the right time. There is a strong element of time and chance in our lives, and I have been fortunate.