Churchill’s Word Play: “Notability or Notoriety”
Q: Seeking fame by notability or notoriety
One remark I love to quote but cannot locate is Churchill’s self avowed quest for fame by “notability or notoriety.” Great word play. The best I can remember is seeing it in one of the early companion volumes of the official biography, edited by his son Randolph. Where may I find it? —M.L., New Jersey
A: No attribution
By placing “notability” first, Churchill clearly thought it was better to be notable than notorious. Alas, a search of Hillsdale College’s massive digital scans of 80 million words by and about him comes up empty.
The only instance of “notability and notoriety” together is in Manfred Weidhorn‘s “Patterns in Churchill’s Charmed Life” (Finest Hour 99, Summer 1998):
The law of averages dictates that some of these dreamers succeed. Churchill was one of them. Hence he is the hero of our hypothetical non-realistic novel. As a young man, Churchill put the world on notice with his memorably declared resolve to be an achiever by either notability or notoriety.
Hits and misses
There are 1000 occurrences of “notability” (including “notable,” etc.) in the Churchill canon, but only 121 for “notoriety.” Being lazy, I looked up the 121. Alas no reference includes “notability” in the phrase except Professor Weidhorn’s article.
Now Manny Weidhorn is rarely wrong, and was evidently quoting WSC from somewhere. But where? The only Churchill quote that’s even close was in his autobiography My Early Life, 1930 edition, 231. He is writing about his epic escape from the Pretoria prison camp in the Boer War:
I was not to languish as a prisoner. I was to escape, and by escaping was to gain a public reputation or notoriety which made me well-known henceforward among my countrymen, and made me acceptable as a candidate in a great many constituencies.
When it came to painting, at least, Churchill thought notoriety had to be earned by hard work. From “The Academy Reveals Britain’s Brave Gaiety” (Daily Mail, 7 May 1932), reprinted in the Collected Essays of Sir Winston Churchill (1975), vol. IV, 105:
Excursions into bizarre impressionism may be accepted from those who have proved their credentials. But slap-dash and short cuts to fame or notoriety are evidently, and rightly, discouraged.
See also:
Manfred Weidhorn, “On Reputation: ‘If Churchill Had Not Been Ousted in 1942,” Hillsdale College Churchill Project, 2023.
One thought on “Churchill’s Word Play: “Notability or Notoriety””
I suspect that the quotation whose origins you seek to determine comes, albeit not in so many words, from the Irish playwright, Oscar Wilde. Mr Wilde (1854-1900) was one of the most (in)famous literary names in the London of Churchill’s youth. It was he who once said that “somehow or other, I’ll be famous; and if not famous, I’ll be notorious.” Hope that helps.
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Thanks. Sounds like an expression many would have used in one way or the other. —RML