It has often been said that the British acquired their empire in a fit of absentmindedness, as consequence of automatic trends, yielding to what seemed possible and what was tempting, rather than as a result of deliberate policy.

经常有人说，英国是在心不在焉的情况下取得" 大英帝国" 的，这是自动潮流的结果，完全出于可能性和尝试性，而不是刻意建立的政策结果。