From the monthly archives:

March 2009

“This great country…mooing dolefully…”

March 21, 2009

21 March 2009 (Associated Press): Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, today dismissed overtures to his country from the U.S. president, Barack Obama, saying Teheran did not see any change in policy under the new U.S. administration. “They chant the slogan of change but no change is seen in practice,” Khamenei said in his speech, [...]

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Lectures and Book Signings

March 18, 2009

Churchill by Himself SPEAKER AND BOOK SIGNINGS 10 May 2010: Toronto. Annual Dinner, International Churchill Society of Canada. 11 September 2009: Churchill For Today: “Shall We All Commit Suicide?” and Churchill’s other futurist essays: panelist and moderator. 26th International Churchill Conference, Westin St. Francis Hotel. 7 May 2009, Boston: English-Speaking Union and New England Churchillians, Union Club, [...]

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Definition of “Fanatic”

March 18, 2009

Can you verify whether or not Churchill said: “A fanatic is someone who won’t change his mind and won’t change the subject”?  —T.M., Ontario, Canada Sorry, it’s not Churchill. From Churchill by Himself, the “Red Herrings” appendix (unattributed quotes), page 574: “Often attributed to Churchill or President Truman. Ralph Keyes, editor, The Quote Verifier, writes: [...]

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“12 million feathers on his wings…”

March 16, 2009

I came across a saying by Churchill on the lines of: “There are 13 million feathers on a dragonfly’s wing yet it is but a mouthful for a bird.” He was saying that only in humans does one finds sentimentality, sadness or compassion for dreadful things that happen.  —R.H. I searched for “dragonfly’s wing” and nothing [...]

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“When you have to kill a man…”

March 14, 2009

Churchill was criticized for his extremely respectful letter to the Japanese Ambassador to Britain in December 1941, when informing him that their countries were at war. Churchill’s response to critics was, “After all, when you have to kill a man it costs nothing to be polite.” Did he actually have the man killed?  —W.H., New [...]

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