From the category archives:

Red Herrings

Bull in a China Shop

March 13, 2009

An recent article declares: “Winston Churchill once described American diplomacy as  ‘a bull who carries his own china shop around with him.’” Is this an accurate quote, and if so, in relation too what? —L.K., Texas The expression is frequently repeated, but in regard to Eisenhower’s Secretary of State John Foster Dulles, not American diplomacy. [...]

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Funding the Arts: “We are going to beat them”

March 7, 2009

Please verify a Churchill story/quotation during his defense of his budget in front of the House of Commons while London was being bombed. A Member questioned Churchill’s increase in the arts budget while Britain was fighting for her life. Churchill’s supposedly responded that he could justify the increase “to remind us what we are fighting for.” —K.L., Chicago. This alleged [...]

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Galloping Lies

March 3, 2009

Can you please advise whether or not Sir Winston Churchill said: “A lie gets halfway around the world before the truth has a chance to get its pants on.”  Many thanks.—A.S., Bermuda It was Cordell Hull, not WSC. I have a slight variation of it in the “Red Herrings” appendix of  Churchill by Himself, page [...]

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“Democracy is the worst system…”

February 26, 2009

Was Winston Churchill’s famous remark about democracy his own, or the words of somebody else? —A.B. Somebody else. Here is what Churchill said in the House of Commons, 11 November 1947, speech in debate on the Parliament Bill (second reading). Churchill was leading the Conservatives in opposing further limitations to the powers of the House [...]

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“Americans will always do the right thing…”

November 9, 2008

I’m a research librarian for The Washington Post, currently based in the paper’s New York City bureau. A reporter has asked me to source a quote attributed to Winston Churchill and I’m having some difficulty in doing that. I was wondering if you might be able to help me.  The quote is: “Americans can always be relied upon [...]

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