quote · Legacy record
The larger an English industry was, the more likely it was to go bankrupt, because the English were not naturally corporate people; they disliked working for others and they seemed to resent taking orders. On the whole, directors were treated absurdly well, and workers badly, and most industries were weakened by class suspicion and false economies and cynicism. But the same qualities that made English people seem stubborn and secretive made them, face to face, reliable and true to their word. I thought: The English do small things well and big things badly.
The larger an English industry was, the more likely it was to go bankrupt, because the English were not naturally corporate people; they disliked working for others and they seemed to resent taking orders. On the whole, directors were treated absurdly well, and workers badly, and most industries were weakened by class suspicion and false economies and cynicism. But the same qualities that made English people seem stubborn and secretive made them, face to face, reliable and true to their word. I thought: The English do small things well and big things badly.
Approximate author period: c. 1941 AD · modern
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- Author or tradition
- Paul Theroux
Attribution: attributed - Country attributed
- Not established
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- Approximate author period: c. 1941 AD · modern
Approximate author-period anchor from documented birth year 1941; activity date not established; Wikidata Q510320, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q510320 (accessed 2026-10-08). Not a quotation composition date.
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Supplied reference C; CSV row 261313; supplied attribution, independently unverified
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