Speech outside 10 Downing Street Quotes

Context

This sentence is from a speech delivered by Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain outside 10 Downing Street in Britain on September 30, 1938. He had just returned from meeting with Hitler in Munich, trying to secure a peace agreement with Germany.

We're stepping out of our happy character to drag you into the abyss of despair for a paragraph. Ready? Here we go!

Your life was smashed apart by a hurricane (substitute earthquake, tornado, flood, or mudslide…you can pick your misery). You survived, but people you love didn't and everything you owned was destroyed. Your insurance doesn't cover the damage. Along with the physical ruin, you were financially ruined. It's taken you years to get back on track with stability and security. You would consider negotiating with the devil to never have to live through that nightmare again. But then your dad comes into your room and tells you that it's okay, you can go to sleep, because you won't ever have to face that again.

Whew, that's a relief.

A lot of people in Britain supported their dad/Prime Minister, Neville Chamberlain. They had just been through WWI, experiencing unimaginable horrors, followed by the Great Depression, and they didn't have the stomach for an instant replay. And in the face of Hitler's aggression, it looked like that was all about to be unleashed again.

So you can't blame them if they were all, "Rah, rah, jolly good" when Chamberlain thought he'd negotiated a peace agreement. It seemed like a good idea at the time, you know, like hydrogen blimps and mullets.

In hindsight, when Hitler wiped his nose with the agreement, we know Chamberlain made the wrong call. But poor Dad Chamberlain was just trying to make us feel better.

Where you've heard it

In political speeches: Peace for our time. Peace in our time.
In Season's Greetings: Peace on Earth.
In children's gibberish: May we have a piece of peace with our peas, please?

Additional Notable References:

• The Daily Herald for October 1, 1938. Fun fact: it only cost one cent!
• A funny sketch with John Cleese as Chamberlain.

Pretentious Factor

If you were to drop this quote at a dinner party, would you get an in-unison "awww" or would everyone roll their eyes and never invite you back? Here it is, on a scale of 1-10.

We've been trying to find peace ever since we first used a femur as a weapon. Doesn't matter how many cushions we search under, we still haven't found it. If someone claims they have, you might call them naïve, but not pretentious. Hey, maybe they can find Jimmy Hoffa!