" Amalie smiled at her vehemence. ‘Oh, don’t think I’m blaming Edward. I don’t blame him in the least. It’s natural and right for young men to be adventurous. There never would have been a British Empire if our young men had been content to settle down at home and not gone out to other lands to seek their fortunes. Of course it’s the fashion nowadays to sneer at the British Empire – but what would the world be like today if there never had been a British Empire? "

― D.E. Stevenson , The Tall Stranger