Winston Churchill

Quotes

Why you may take the most gallant sailor, the most intrepid airman, and th most audacious soldier, put them at a table together-and what do you get? The sum of their fears.
Kites rise highest against the wind - not with it.
Lady Astor: Mr. Churchill, You're drunk!
Winston Churchill: Yes, and you Madam, are ugly. But tomorrow I shall be sober.
A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity;
an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty.
We shape our buildings and they shape us.
Golf is a game whose aim is to hit a very small ball into a even smaller hole, with weapons singularly ill- designed for the purpose.
Are you insinuating that I am a purveyor of terminological inexactitudes?
Immature love says, I love you because I need you, mature love says, I need you because I love you.
When you get to the end of your rope tie a knot and hang on.
What kind of people do they think we are, do they think we will be bowed by their tryanny?
You will make all kinds of mistakes but as long as you are generous and true and fierce you cannot hurt the world, or even seriously distress her.
This report, by its very length, defends itself against being read.
The creation of a line of forts opposite to the French frontier will enable the German troops to be economized on that line and will enable the main forces to swing round through Belgium and Holland.
There is something about the outside of a horse that is good for the inside of a man.
We shall go on to the end, we shall fight in France, we shall fight on the seas and the oceans, we shall fight with growing confidence and growing strength in the air, 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.
Man will occasionally stumble over the truth, but usually manages to pick himself up, walk over or around it, and carry on.
Yes Madame, I am drunk but you are ugly and tomorrow I'll be sober.
It drives on with a courage which is stronger than the storm. It drives on with a mercy which does not quail in the presence of death. It drives on as proof, a symbol, a testimony that man is created in the image of God and that valour and virtue have not perished in the British race.
I have always felt that a politician is to be judged by the animosities he excites among his opponents.
Too often the strong silent man is silent because he does not know what to say, and is reputed strong only because he has remained silent.
Everyone has his day and some days last longer than others.
Never in the course of history, have so many owed so much to so few.
Why, you may take the most gallant sailor, the most intrepid airman or the most audacious soldier, put them at a table together- what do you get? The sum of all fears.
If you are going through hell, keep going.
I am ready to meet my Maker. Whether my Maker is prepared for the great ordeal of meeting me is another matter.
A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty.
He has all the virtues I dislike and none of the vices I admire.
I have nothing to offer but blood, toil, tears and sweat.
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. Never yield to force; never yield to the apparently overwhelming might of the enemy.
My most brilliant achievement was my ability to be able to persuade my wife to marry me.
It is a good thing for an uneducated man to read books of quotations.
The price of greatness is responsibility.
A lie gets halfway around the world before the truth has a chance to get its pants on.
When you have to kill a man, it costs nothing to be polite.
Any man who is under 30, and is not a liberal, has no heart; and any man who is over 30, and is not a conservative, has no brains.
Some regard private enterprise as if it were a predatory tiger to be shot. Others look upon it as a cow that they can milk. Only a handful see it for what it really is--the strong horse that pulls the whole cart.
It is hard, if not impossible, to snub a beautiful woman - they remain beautiful and the rebuke recoils.
Never interrupt me when I'm trying to interrupt you.
Dogs look up to you. Cats look down on you. Pigs treat you like equals.
Men occasionally stumble over the truth, but most of them pick themselves up and hurry off as if nothing happened.
The United States stands at the pinnacle of world power. This is a solemn moment for the American democracy. For with primacy in power is joined an awe-inspiring accountability for the future.
History will be kind to me, for I intend to write it.
The best argument against democracy is a five-minute conversation with the average voter.
We are all worms, but I do believe I am a glow-worm.
Success is going from failure to failure without losing enthusiasm.
I am easily satisfied with the very best.
Why, you can take the most gallant sailor, the most intrepid airman or the most audacious soldier, put them at a table together - what do you get? The sum of their fears.
Americans can always be counted on to do the right thing...after they have exhausted all other possibilities.
The greatest lesson in life is to know that even fools are right sometimes.
I have taken more out of alcohol than alcohol has taken out of me.
I may be drunk, Miss, but in the morning I will be sober and you will still be ugly.
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 'til you can.
It has been said that democracy is the worst form of government except all the others that have been tried.
Saving is a fine thing. Especially when your parents have done it for you.
Politics are almost as exciting as war and quite as dangerous. In war you can only be killed once, but in politics, many times.
Golf is a game whose aim is to hit a very small ball into a even smaller hole, with weapons singularly ill-designed for the purpose.
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 small 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 to live as slaves.
Courage is what it takes to stand up and speak; courage is also what it takes to sit down and listen.
He is a very modest man with a great deal to be modest about.
The great principle which this house ought to guard and cherish is that, when the tax collector comes to the private citizen and takes from him of his wealth for the services of the public, the whole of that money taken shall go for the purposes for which it is intended, and that no private interests, however powerfully they may be organized and however eloquently advocated, shall thrust their dirty fingers into the pie and take the profits for themselves.
When I am abroad, I always make it a rule never to criticize or attack the government of my own country. I make up for lost time when I come home.
Socialism is a philosophy of failure, the creed of ignorance, and the gospel or envy, its inherent virtue is the equal sharing of misery.
We shall not fail or falter; we shall not weeaken or tire. Give us the tools and we will finish the job.
There is no finer investment for any community than putting milk into babies.
We make a living by what we get, but we make a life by what we give.
There are a lot of lies going around...and half of them are true.
If you go on with this nuclear arms race, all you are going to do is make the rubble bounce.
Courage is the first of human qualities because it is the quality which guarantees all others.
In wartime, truth is so precious that she should always be attended by a bodyguard of lies.
However beautiful the strategy, you should occasionally look at the results.
There is nothing more exhilarating than to be shot at without result.
This report, by its very length, defends itself against the risk of being read.
We contend that for a nation to try to tax itself into prosperity is like a man standing in a bucket and trying to lift himself up by the handle.
Truth is incontrovertible, ignorance can deride it, panic may resent it, malice may destroy it, but there it is.
Those who can win a war well can rarely make a good peace and those who could make a good peace would never have won the war.
I think 'no comment' is a splendid expression. I am using it again and again.
There is something going on in time and space, and beyond time and space, which, whether we like it or not, spells duty.
The destiny of man is not measured by material computation. When great forces are on the move in the world, we learn we are spirits--not animals.
Arise and take our stand for freedom as in the olden time.
A good speech should be like a woman's skirt; long enough to cover the subject and short enough to create interest.
Never, never, never give up.
Success is not final, failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that counts.
Success is the ability to go from one failure to another with no loss of enthusiasm.