Found in a Box of Cigars
I’ve been obsessed with Sir Winston Churchill recently. I have no idea why. Sir Winston once said,
“It is a good thing for an uneducated man to read books of quotations. Bartlett's Familiar Quotations is an admirable work, and I studied it intently. The quotations when engraved upon the memory give you good thoughts. They also make you anxious to read the authors and look for more.”
He also said this, “The length of this document defends it well against the risk of its being read.”
So I thought I would take the rare visitor to this page through some of Churchill’s best quotes. I did a simple Google search for “Winston Churchill Quotes” and the miracle workers there found these pages just for me: Winston Churchill Quotes Brainy Quote My current top ten are in bold in no particular order.
A fanatic is one who can't change his mind and won't change the subject.
A joke is a very serious thing.
A lie gets halfway around the world before the truth has a chance to get its pants on.
A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty.
Although personally I am quite content with existing explosives, I feel we must not stand in the path of improvement.
Although prepared for martyrdom, I preferred that it be postponed.
An appeaser is one who feeds a crocodile, hoping it will eat him last.
Broadly speaking, the short words are the best, and the old words best of all.
By swallowing evil words unsaid, no one has ever harmed his stomach.
Courage is what it takes to stand up and speak; courage is also what it takes to sit down and listen.
Criticism may not be agreeable, but it is necessary. It fulfils the same function as pain in the human body. It calls attention to an unhealthy state of things.
Danger - if you meet it promptly and without flinching - you will reduce the danger by half. Never run away from anything. Never!
Dictators ride to and fro upon tigers which they dare not dismount. And the tigers are getting hungry.
Eating words has never given me indigestion.
Ending a sentence with a preposition is something up with which I will not put.
Everyone has his day and some days last longer than others.
For myself I am an optimist - it does not seem to be much use being anything else.
From now on, ending a sentence with a preposition is something up with which I will not put.
From Stettin in the Baltic to
He has all of the virtues I dislike and none of the vices I admire.
Here is the answer which I will give to President Roosevelt... We shall not fail or falter; we shall not weaken or tire. Neither the sudden shock of battle nor the long-drawn trials of vigilance and exertion will wear us down. Give us the tools and we will finish the job.
History will be kind to me for I intend to write it.
I always avoid prophesying beforehand, because it is a much better policy to prophesy after the event has already taken place.
I am always ready to learn although I do not always like being taught.
I am an optimist. It does not seem too much use being anything else.
I am bored with it all.
I am easily satisfied with the very best.
I am fond of pigs. Dogs look up to us. Cats look down on us. Pigs treat us as equals.
I am prepared to meet my Maker. Whether my Maker is prepared for the great ordeal of meeting me is another matter.
I am reminded of the professor who, in his declining hours, was asked by his devoted pupils for his final counsel. He replied, 'Verify your quotations.'
I cannot pretend to feel impartial about colours. I rejoice with the brilliant ones and am genuinely sorry for the poor browns.
I have been brought up and trained to have the utmost contempt for people who get drunk.
I have never developed indigestion from eating my words.
I have nothing to offer but blood, toil, tears and sweat.
I have taken more out of alcohol than alcohol has taken out of me.
I like a man who grins when he fights.
I may be drunk, Miss, but in the morning I will be sober and you will still be ugly.
I'm just preparing my impromptu remarks.
If Hitler invaded hell I would make at least a favorable reference to the devil in the House of Commons.
If I was your wife Sir, I'd poison you! Madam, if you were my wife, I'd let you!
If the Almighty were to rebuild the world and asked me for advice, I would have English Channels round every country. And the atmosphere would be such that anything which attempted to fly would be set on fire.
If the human race wishes to have a prolonged and indefinite period of material prosperity, they have only got to behave in a peaceful and helpful way toward one another.
If we open a quarrel between past and present, we shall find that we have lost the future.
If you are going through hell, keep going.
If you go on with this nuclear arms race, all you are going to do is make the rubble bounce.
If you have an important point to make, don't try to be subtle or clever. Use a pile driver. Hit the point once. Then come back and hit it again. Then hit it a third time-a tremendous whack.
In wartime, truth is so precious that she should always be attended by a bodyguard of lies.
It has been said that democracy is the worst form of government except all the others that have been tried.
It is a fine thing to be honest, but it is also very important to be right.
It is a good thing for an uneducated man to read books of quotations.
It is always wise to look ahead, but difficult to look further than you can see.
It is more agreeable to have the power to give than to receive.
Kites rise highest against the wind - not with it.
Men occasionally stumble over the truth, but most of them pick themselves up and hurry off as if nothing had happened.
Moral of the Work. In war: resolution. In defeat: defiance. In victory: magnanimity. In peace: goodwill.
Most people stumble over the truth, now and then, but they usually manage to pick themselves up and go on, anyway.
My most brilliant achievement was my ability to be able to persuade my wife to marry me.
My rule of life prescribed as an absolutely sacred rite smoking cigars and also the drinking of alcohol before, after and if need be during all meals and in the intervals between them.
My wife and I tried two or three times in the last 40 years to have breakfast together, but it was so disagreeable we had to stop.
Never hold discussions with the monkey when the organ grinder is in the room.
Never in the field of human conflict was so much owed by so many to so few.
Never, never, never give up.
"No comment" is a splendid expression. I am using it again and again.
No crime is so great as daring to excel.
No folly is more costly than the folly of intolerant idealism.
Nothing can be more abhorrent to democracy than to imprison a person or keep him in prison because he is unpopular. This is really the test of civilization.
Nothing in life is so exhilarating as to be shot at without result.
Now this is not the end. It is not even the beginning of the end. But it is, perhaps, the end of the beginning.
One day President Roosevelt told me that he was asking publicly for suggestions about what the war should be called. I said at once 'The Unnecessary War'.
One ought never to turn one's back on a threatened danger and try to run away from it. If you do that, you will double the danger. But if you meet it promptly and without flinching, you will reduce the danger by half. Never run away from anything. Never!
Out of intense complexities intense simplicities emerge.
Personally I'm always ready to learn, although I do not always like being taught.
Play the game for more than you can afford to lose... only then will you learn the game.
Politics is the ability to foretell what is going to happen tomorrow, next week, next month and next year. And to have the ability afterwards to explain why it didn't happen.
Short words are best and the old words when short are best of all.
Socialism is a philosophy of failure, the creed of ignorance, and the gospel of envy, its inherent virtue is the equal sharing of misery.
Solitary trees, if they grow at all, grow strong.
Study history, study history. In history lies all the secrets of statecraft.
Success consists of going from failure to failure without loss of enthusiasm.
The best argument against democracy is a five-minute conversation with the average voter.
The empires of the future are the empires of the mind.
The farther backward you can look, the farther forward you are likely to see.
The great defense against the air menace is to attack the enemy's aircraft as near as possible to their point of departure.
The latest refinements of science are linked with the cruelties of the Stone Age.
The nose of the bulldog has been slanted backwards so that he can breathe without letting go.
The pessimist sees difficulty in every opportunity. The optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty.
The power of man has grown in every sphere, except over himself.
The price of greatness is responsibility.
The problems of victory are more agreeable than those of defeat, but they are no less difficult.
The short words are best, and the old words are the best of all.
The truth is incontrovertible, malice may attack it, ignorance may deride it, but in the end; there it is.
There are a terrible lot of lies going about the world, and the worst of it is that half of them are true.
Too often the strong, silent man is silent only because he does not know what to say, and is reputed strong only because he has remained silent.
Victory at all costs, victory in spite of all terror, victory however long and hard the road may be; for without victory, there is no survival.
War is a game that is played with a smile. If you can't smile, grin. If you can't grin, keep out of the way till you can.
War is mainly a catalogue of blunders.
We are all worms. But I believe that I am a glow-worm.
We have always found the Irish a bit odd. They refuse to be English.
We must beware of needless innovations, especially when guided by logic.
We occasionally stumble over the truth but most of us pick ourselves up and hurry off as if nothing had happened.
We shall defend our island, whatever the cost may be, we shall fight on the beaches, we shall fight on the landing grounds, we shall fight in the fields and in the streets, we shall fight in the hills; we shall never surrender.
When the eagles are silent the parrots begin to jabber.
When the war of the giants is over the wars of the pygmies will begin.
When you are winning a war almost everything that happens can be claimed to be right and wise.
When you took your seat I felt as if a woman had come into my bathroom and I had only the sponge to defend myself.
Without a measureless and perpetual uncertainty, the drama of human life would be destroyed.
Writing a book is an adventure. To begin with, it is a toy and an amusement; then it becomes a mistress, and then it becomes a master, and then a tyrant. The last phase is that just as you are about to be reconciled to your servitude, you kill the monster, and fling him out to the public.
You can always count on Americans to do the right thing - after they've tried everything else.
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