Category: Quotations

Churchillian Maxims: “Take the Enemy into Consideration”

Churchillian Maxims: “Take the Enemy into Consideration”

"The German General Staff called this long-prepared operation by the code name Alberich, after the malicious dwarf of the Nibelungen legend. They left their opponents in the crater fields of the Somme,"

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“To be opened in the event of my death…” Winston Churchill to his Wife, 1915

“To be opened in the event of my death…” Winston Churchill to his Wife, 1915

Q: The goodbye letter

I am doing some work for my Eng­lish AS course and  need a com­par­a­tive piece to go with a poem I am study­ing. I have tried look­ing  for Win­ston Churchill’s good­bye let­ter to his wife but have been unsuc­cess­ful. Is there any way I could even have a part of the text of the let­ter for my stud­ies? —A.S., UK

A: “In the event of my death…”

This was a great and mem­o­rable let­ter. After his removal as First Lord of the Admi­ral­ty in 1915, Churchill spent six uneasy months in a sinecure posi­tion, unable to influ­ence war pol­i­cy.…

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Christmas Eve, Washington, 1941: Eighty Years On

Christmas Eve, Washington, 1941: Eighty Years On

"Here, in the midst of war, raging and roaring over all the lands and seas, creeping nearer to our hearts and homes, here, amid all the tumult, we have tonight the peace of the spirit in each cottage home and in every generous heart. Therefore we may cast aside for this night at least the cares and dangers which beset us, and make for the children an evening of happiness in a world of storm." —WSC

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Churchill’s Magnanimity: Stanley Baldwin (1867-1947)

Churchill’s Magnanimity: Stanley Baldwin (1867-1947)

Churchill’s cen­so­ri­ous remark about Prime Min­is­ter Stan­ley Bald­win was not, I was pleased to learn, his last words. Once again his char­ac­ter­is­tic mag­na­nim­i­ty pre­vailed. My thanks to my col­league Dave Tur­rell for this information.

June, 1947

Sir Mar­tin Gilbert pub­lished the arrest­ing asser­tion by Churchill in 1947 (In Search of Churchill, 1995, 106). In June, WSC was invit­ed to send a let­ter (I would think for a festschrift) on Baldwin’s 80th birth­day, August 3rd. Writ­ing to an inter­me­di­ary, Churchill refused. “I wish Stan­ley Bald­win no ill, but it would have been much bet­ter if he had nev­er lived.”…

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Winston Churchill and the Art of the Press Conference

Winston Churchill and the Art of the Press Conference

Question on press conferences

I am  com­plet­ing an Eng­lish assign­ment which looks at the speech­es of Win­ston Churchill and would like to read press con­fer­ences or inter­views Churchill gave dur­ing the Sec­ond World War. So far, I have been able to find only speech­es. Please could you advise me whether any such inter­views are in exis­tence? —E.L.

Washington, 1941

Churchill rarely gave interviews—only two that I know of as a young man, and those reluc­tant­ly. Speech­es (live) were his pref­er­ence. How­ev­er, on his 1941 vis­it to Wash­ing­ton, Franklin Roo­sevelt ush­ered him into his first press con­fer­ence.…

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Fatal Flaws: Winston Churchill wasn’t Perfect. Surprise!

Fatal Flaws: Winston Churchill wasn’t Perfect. Surprise!

The urge to proclaim one's virtue by inventing straw men is insidious, and creeps into many unexpected places. Churchill's true flaws are open to learned critique. But there's a difference between presenting "a broad range of views" and inventing myths. And when all you have is a hammer, everything looks like a nail.

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Winston Churchill on American Thanksgiving, 1944

Winston Churchill on American Thanksgiving, 1944

1621:

“Our har­vest being got­ten in, our gov­er­nor sent four men on fowl­ing, that so we might after have a spe­cial man­ner rejoice togeth­er after we had gath­ered the fruit of our labors…many of the Indi­ans com­ing amongst us, and among the rest their great­est King Mas­sas­oit, with some nine­ty men, whom for three days we enter­tained and feast­ed, and they went out and killed five deer, which they brought to the plan­ta­tion and bestowed on our gov­er­nor, and upon the cap­tain, and oth­ers.”  —Edward Winslow, Mourt’s Rela­tion: A Rela­tion or Jour­nal of the Begin­ning and Pro­ceed­ings of the Eng­lish Plan­ta­tion Set­tled at Plimoth in New Eng­land, 1621.…

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“Greeks Fight Like Heroes – Heroes Fight Like Greeks”: Not by Churchill

“Greeks Fight Like Heroes – Heroes Fight Like Greeks”: Not by Churchill

Q: Did Churchill say this about the Greeks? “Hence we will not say that Greeks fight like heroes, but that heroes fight like Greeks.” This quote is attrib­uted to Churchill and some­times accom­pa­nied by an audio clip which does not sound like him. My assump­tion is that he may have writ­ten it but the words were deliv­ered by some­one else. Is there any source of this quote or pos­si­ble mis­quote? It is used reg­u­lar­ly by the Greeks dur­ing Ohi Day cel­e­bra­tions.* It would be nice to find a source either way. —M.A.,…

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Churchilliana: Return to Glory for an Icon or Two (Update)

Churchilliana: Return to Glory for an Icon or Two (Update)

Icon of war: the old War Office, Whitehall

(Updat­ed from 2016). Home to Sec­re­taries of State for War Lord Hal­dane, Lord Kitch­en­er, David Lloyd George and Win­ston Churchill, it was a key venue in two glob­al con­flicts. But in 2016 the old War Office build­ing was sold to devel­op­ers of a five-star hotel and res­i­den­tial apart­ments. That work is expect­ed to fin­ish in 2022, and res­i­dents are being sought.

Built in 1906 for £1.2, mil­lion, the Grade II-list­ed prop­er­ty changed hands for £300 mil­lion. The buy­ers were the Hin­du­ja Group, in part­ner­ship with a Obras­con Huarte Lain Desar­rol­los (OHLD), a Span­ish indus­tri­al company.…

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