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Winston Churchill Quotes
1874–1965 England
Sir Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill KG OM CH TD FRS PC (November 30, 1874 – January 24, 1965) was a British statesman who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1940 to 1945, during the Second World War, and again from 1951 to 1955. Churchill was a Sandhurst-educated soldier, a Nobel Prize-winning writer and historian, a prolific painter, and one of the longest-serving politicians in British history.
England Biographers Historians Journalists Nobel laureates Also known as: Churchill, Churchill, Winston, Sir Winston Churchill, We shall fight on the beaches
Random Winston Churchill quote
356 quotes
It [fascism] is not a sign-post which would direct us here, for I firmly believe that our long experienced democracy will be able to preserve a parliamentary system of government with whatever modifications may be necessary from both extremes of arbitrary rule.
The truth is that Gandhi-ism and all it stands for will, sooner or later, have to be grappled with, and finally crushed. It is no use trying to satisfy a tiger by feeding him with cat's-meat. The sooner this is realised, the less trouble and misfortune will there be for all concerned.
I submit respectfully to the House as a general principle that our responsibility in this matter is directly proportionate to our power. Where there is great power there is great responsibility, where there is less power there is less responsibility, and where there is no power there can, I think, be no responsibility.
Apparently, as in so many ancient battles, the beaten side were the victims of misunderstanding and the fate of the day was decided against them before the bulk of the forces realised that a serious engagement had begun. Reserves descended from the hills too late to achieve victory, but in good time to be massacred in the rout.
A History of the English-Speaking Peoples (1956)
I have lived my life in the House of Commons, having served there for 52 out of the last 54 years of this tumultuous and convulsive century. I have indeed seen all the ups and downs of fate and fortune there, but I have never ceased to love and honour the Mother of Parliaments, the model of the legislative assemblies of so many lands.
Joan was a being so uplifted from the ordinary run of mankind that she finds no equal in a thousand years. She embodied the natural goodness and valour of the human race in unexampled perfection. Unconquerable courage, infinite compassion, the virtue of the simple, the wisdom of the just, shone forth in her. She glorifies as she freed the soil from which she sprang.
A History of the English-Speaking Peoples (1956)
A group of pagan ruffians and pirates had gained possession of an effective military and naval machine, but they faced a mass of formidable veterans whom they had to feed and manage, and for whom they must provide killings. Such men make plans, and certainly their descent upon England was one of the most carefully considered and elaborately prepared villainies of that dark time.
A History of the English-Speaking Peoples (1956)
Still, if you will not fight for the right when you can easily win without bloodshed; if you will not fight when your victory will be sure and not too costly; you may come to the moment when you will have to fight with all the odds against you and only a precarious chance of survival. There may even be a worse case. You may have to fight when there is no hope of victory, because it is better to perish than live as slaves.
The Second World War (book series) (1948)
Continuous effort — not strength or intelligence — is the key to unlocking our potential.
Disputed
Men occasionally stumble over the truth, but most of them pick themselves up and hurry off as if nothing ever happened.
Disputed
The idea that a nation can tax itself into prosperity is one of the cruelest delusions which has befuddled the human mind.
Misattributed
It is always wise to look ahead – but difficult to look further than you can see.
Disputed
You make a living by what you get; you make a life by what you give.
Misattributed
A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty.
Misattributed
This is the type of arrant pedantry up with which I will not put.
Disputed
You are a small exclamation mark at the end of a very long and insignificant sentence in the book of history.
Disputed
The fascists of the future will be called anti-fascists.
Misattributed
An empty taxi arrived and out of it stepped Attlee.
Misattributed
The further backward you look, the further forward you can see.
Misattributed In Churchill by Himself (2008)
Plans are of little importance, but planning is essential.
Misattributed
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