Not to beat a rather inconsequential point to death, but there are some

aspects of national vitality that no-one has yet figured out how to

quantify. Rodney Gilbert, writing from China in the 1920s said: “In China

the psychic flame burns low, for want of fuel.” Modern Britain presents

somewhat the same spectacle in relation to the US. The psychic flame burns

rather low over there.

Now I am trying to recall a quote by, I am pretty sure, Ernest Bevin,

British Foreign Secretary in the late 1940s. An American diplomat asked

him, in some context or other, what the desires of the British people were.

Bevin: “The British people have no desires.” (Or something close to that.)

It’s stuck in my mind. If anyone knows the actual quote & context, I’d

appreciate it.