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The object of presenting medals, stars, and ribbons is to give pride and pleasure to those who have deserved them. At the same time a distinction is something which everybody does not possess. If all have it it is of less value ... A medal glitters, but it also casts a shadow.

— Winston Churchill The Second World War (1939)

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More quotes by Winston Churchill

For myself I am an optimist — it does not seem to be much use being anything else.

Some people did not like this ceremonious style. But after all when you have to kill a man it costs nothing to be polite.

The Second World War (book series) (1948)

Courage is rightly esteemed the first of human qualities, because, as has been said, it is the quality which guarantees all others.

To improve is to change, so to be perfect is to have changed often.

The inherent vice of capitalism is the unequal sharing of blessings. The inherent virtue of Socialism is the equal sharing of miseries.

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Attribution

Quote text and notes from Wikiquote: Winston Churchill (page history), available under CC BY-SA 4.0. Source quality and labels are our own summary of what Wikiquote records.