“Above all, Sir Winston carried about him a certain JOYOUS HUMANITY. Asked what he most admired about him, Marshal Tito, a most perceptive man, said:
‘His humanity. He is so human.’ On that at least I agree with Marshal Tito.” —RML
Detroit spent millions trying to understand what buyers wanted—and acted accordingly. It wasn’t a case of “Grosse Pointe myopians” dictating their preferences. Almost every failure—from the Henry J to the Edsel to the longer-wider-faster American Motors mid-60s models—was an example of product planners misreading market forces. Every notable success, from the early Rambler to the ponycar to the musclecar, was an example of getting it right. For whatever they built (and they built some pretty bad cars): Don’t blame Detroit. Blame us.
The Collected Works are less important than their spectacular appearance suggests. However incomplete, they do constitute the first collected edition. But lacking the original texts, they are not bibliographically compelling: “expensive reprints,” as one cynic put it. Collectors prefer to hold a book in the form Sir Winston first gave it to the world (errors and all). So the Works will never replace first editions.
"Education does not begin with the university, and it certainly ought not to end there. I have seen a lot of people who got cleverer until about 21 or 22 years of age, then seemed to shut down altogether.... Take full advantage of these years...but do not spend too much time in buckling on your armour in the tent. The battle is going on in every walk and sphere of life." —WSC, Bristol, 1929
WSC: "Prof! Pray calculate the total quantity of champagne, wine and spirits I have consumed thus far in my life and tell us how much of this room it would fill." Professor Lindemann (pretending a slide rule calculation): "I'm sorry, Winston, it would only reach our ankles." WSC: "How much to do—how little time remains."
"The European Assembly is now on the point of being achieved.... We have now to take the second step forward and try to establish, as the practical result of our meeting here, the setting up of a European Court of Human Rights." —WSC, Brussels, 1949
"George Washington holds one of the proudest titles that history can bestow. He was the Father of his Nation. Almost alone his staunchness in the War of Independence held the American colonies to their united purpose. His services after victory had been won were no less great. His firmness and example while first President restrained the violence of faction and postponed a national schism for 60 years." —WSC
No animus toward Pat. I admired him and even voted for him in a NH Primary. I helped him with a couple of items during his research (while lampooning his beliefs in friendly banter). “I like a man who grins when he fights,” as Churchill said. But a problem with his book is the rampant use of selective quotes. Partial quotations edited to distort reality, or to fit a predetermined conclusion are out of bounds.
The Martin Gilbert Learning Centre offers a free Zoom presentation by Lady Gilbert herself, on the 1945 bombing of Dresden. The date is Monday 13 February 2023 at 2pm Eastern, 11 am Pacific, 7pm Greenwich Mean Time. Email Deputy Director Dr. Bethany Gaunt to be put on the Zoom invitation list. Lady Gilbert will include Sir Martin's story about how a Soviet general corroborated the truth about who ordered the bombing—in Moscow!
“For those who love speed coupled with utility features of general motoring, Packard builds its Speedsters. Perhaps it is the inherent flow of speed joined to the swift grace of smooth design that suggests these interesting body treatments. But Speedsters they all are, from test car to Runabout. For those who thrill to the maximum speed of an open car on an open road.” —Packard Motor Car Company
They may have slipped on a banana, but ChatGBT has only been at this for a few years. "Give them another five years and they'll probably have picked up every word Churchill wrote." So, before we lazily laugh at the tech boffins' failure accurately to pinpoint the Great Man's every word, we might stop to consider: They are just getting started. As Churchill was wont to say on occasion: "Let not the slothful chortle."
