May 2012 - Richard M. Langworth

Churchill on Taxes

29 May 2012 Comments 0 Comments

Especially nowadays, politicians frequently quote Churchill as saying, “There is no such thing as a good tax.” Fastidioius searches of his published words reveal no such statement; and here at least is proof that he considered at least one tax a good one.

Perhaps the House may remember that only seven or eight years ago I got into some trouble myself about the Kerosene Tax. It was a very good tax. I was quite right about it. My Rt. Hon. Friend [Neville Chamberlain] slipped it through a year or two later without the slightest trouble and it never ruined the homes of the people at all.…

Churchill’s Religion: “Optimistic Agnostic”

28 May 2012 Comments 1 Comment

Although he had some very religious friends, like Lord Hugh Cecil, Winston Churchill was not a religious man. Introduced to religious diversity early, he was brought up “High Church,” but had a nanny “who enjoyed a very Low Church form of piety.” When in rebellious mood he would tell Nanny Everest “the worst thing that he could think of…that he would go out and ‘worship idols.’”

After his self-education as a young officer in India, when he read all the popular challenges to orthodox religion, like Charles Darwin’s The Origin of Species and William Winwood Reade’s The Martyrdom of Man, Churchill evolved into what we might term an “optimistic agnostic.” He…

New Churchill Phrase & Quote Index

8 May 2012 Comments 0 Comments

A new Phrase Index to Churchill quotes is available.

My Churchill quotations book, Churchill By Himself, is being updated and corrected for a new edition called Churchill in His Own Words, with an eventual e-book version as well. It contains a new Key Phrase Index that will greatly assist readers in finding the quotation they require.

Since the pagination of the new book will not change (we found only one quote which had to be removed as fictitious), the Phrase Index can also be used by present owners of Churchill By Himself. For a copy please contact me.…