Of course I'm an optimist. What's the point of being anything else?
¶ (1941)
Quotations by ...
Sir Winston Churchill (1874-1965) British statesman and author
This is the sort of pedantry up with which I will not put.
¶ (Attributed)
Margin note after receiving an objection to ending a sentence with a preposition and using a dangling participle in official documents. In Kay Halle's Irrepressible Churchill (1966)
A modest little person, with much to be modest about.
¶ (Attributed)
You can always trust the Americans. in the end they will do the right thing, after they have eliminated all the other possibilities.
¶ (Attributed)
If you're going through hell, keep going.
¶ (Attributed)
There is nothing more exhilarating than to be shot at without result.
¶ (Attributed)
It is a mistake to look too far ahead. Only one link in the chain of destiny can be handled at a time.
¶ (Attributed)
Courage is what it takes to stand up and speak; courage is also what it takes to sit down and listen.
¶ (Attributed)
My wife and I tried to breakfast together, but we had to stop or our marriage would have been wrecked.
¶ (Attributed)
To improve is to change; to be perfect is to change often.
¶ (Attributed)
However beautiful the strategy, you should occasionally look at the results.
¶ (Attributed)
Men stumble over the truth from time to time, but most pick themselves up and hurry off as if nothing happened.
¶ (Attributed)
WOMAN: There are two things I don't like about you, Mr. Churchill -- your politics and your mustache.
CHURCHILL: My dear madam, pray do not disturb yourself. You are not likely to come into contact with either.
¶ (Attributed)
Exchange with anonymous woman
Responsibility is the price of greatness.
¶ (Attributed)
The inherent vice of capitalism is the unequal sharing of blessings; the inherent virtue of socialism is the equal sharing of miseries.
¶ (Attributed)
I am prepared to meet my Maker. Whether my Maker is prepared for the great ordeal of meeting me is another matter.
¶ (Attributed)
He has all the virtues I dislike and none of the vices I admire.
¶ (Attributed)
on Sir Stafford Cripps
An appeaser is one who feeds a crocodile, hoping that it will eat him last.
¶ (Attributed)
quoted in Reader's Digest, Dec. 1954 (also attrib. FDR)
If Hitler invaded hell I would at least make a favorable reference to the Devil in the House of Commons
¶ The Grand Alliance, vol. 3, ch. 20 (regarding the alliance with the USSR) (1950)
The only wise and safe course is to act from day to day in accordance with what one's own conscience seems to decree.
¶ The Second World War: The Gathering Storm, 1.12 (1948)
In War: Resolution. In Defeat: Defiance. In Victory: Magnanimity. In Peace: Goodwill.
¶ The Second World War, epigram, originally on WW I (1948-54)
I am always ready to learn, although I do not always like being taught.
¶ House of Commons speech (4-Nov-1952)
It is vain to imagine that the mere perception or declaration of right principles, whether in one country or in many countries, will be of any value unless they are supported by those qualities of civic virtue and manly courage—aye, and by those instruments and agencies of force and science which in the last resort must be the defense of right and reason. Civilization will not last, freedom will not survive, peace will not be kept, unless a very large majority of mankind unite together to defend them and show themselves possessed of a constabulary power before which barbaric and atavistic forces will stand in awe.
¶ Speech at Bristol University (2 Jul. 1938)
Never give in, never give in, never, never, never, never — in nothing, great or small, large or petty — never give in except to convictions of honour and good sense.
¶ Speech, Harrow School, England (29 Oct 1941)
Many forms of Government have been tried, and will be tried in this world of sin and woe. No one pretends that democracy is perfect or all-wise. Indeed, it has been said that democracy is the worst form of Government except all those other forms that have been tried from time to time.
¶ Speech, House of Commons (11 Nov. 1947)
Want of foresight, unwillingness to act when action would be simple and effective, lack of clear thinking, confusion of counsel until the emergency comes, until self-preservation strikes its jarring gong — these are the features which constitute the endless repetition of history.
¶ Speech, House of Commons (2 May 1935)
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WIST is my collection of quotations I find meaningful, moving, amusing (intended or not), well-phrased, and/or to which I just say I "Wish I'd Said That." But just because I quote it here doesn't mean I actually agree with it. If you have any comments, corrections, or suggestions, please don't hesitate to
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