Comments on: Quotations Winston Churchill Never Said: A Few Additions http://localhost:8080/quotatioins Senior Fellow, Hillsdale College Churchill Project, Writer and Historian Sat, 29 May 2021 20:16:57 +0000 hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.9 By: Richard Langworth http://localhost:8080/quotatioins#comment-17434 Sun, 28 Jan 2018 14:48:01 +0000 http://richardlangworth.com/?p=706#comment-17434 In reply to JohnKSa.

Correcting Churchill misquotes often risks charges of pedantry, usually by fellow pedants (full marks to you). He has however been so egregiously misquoted that I’ll risk it.

1) “Dyke: A wall built to prevent the sea or a river from covering an area, or a channel dug to take water away from an area.” -Cambridge English Dictionary.

2) True, and I usually identify inexact wording, as opposed to misattributions, in that case: “Close, but no cigar.”

3) I am not obliged to supply the originators of phrases, only to assert that they don’t (to date) track to Churchill.* When the originator is known for certain, I usually supply it, through references to researchers like the eminent Ralph Keyes.

*It is an ongoing process. For example, only recently, documents in the Churchill Archives surfaced to show both Churchill and Shaw denied the famous exchange on Shaw’s play premiere (“Bring a friend, if you have one” … “I’ll come the second night, if there is one”). Dropped from the latest edition of my quotations book.

]]> By: JohnKSa http://localhost:8080/quotatioins#comment-17432 Sun, 28 Jan 2018 05:47:05 +0000 http://richardlangworth.com/?p=706#comment-17432 1) There is a profound difference between dike and dyke and an even more profound difference between sticking something in one vs. the other.

2) By the way, not getting a quote exactly correct (as with the POW quote) is quite a different animal from a misattribution. Failing to differentiate between the two is sloppy.

3) And one more by the way. Failing to verify that someone said something is not proof that they didn’t say it. Conclusive proof would be verifying who DID originate the quotation.

]]> By: Richard Langworth http://localhost:8080/quotatioins#comment-16185 Sun, 08 Oct 2017 23:23:32 +0000 http://richardlangworth.com/?p=706#comment-16185 sorry, finger.

]]> By: Josh http://localhost:8080/quotatioins#comment-16184 Sun, 08 Oct 2017 22:52:48 +0000 http://richardlangworth.com/?p=706#comment-16184 “…it’s like the Dutch boy sticking his hand in the dyke.”
Some typos merit a place in my file of quotable quotes.

]]> By: Richard Langworth http://localhost:8080/quotatioins#comment-14790 Tue, 20 Jun 2017 12:15:24 +0000 http://richardlangworth.com/?p=706#comment-14790 In reply to Vladimir.

Vladimir: Happens all the time!

]]> By: Vladimir http://localhost:8080/quotatioins#comment-14786 Tue, 20 Jun 2017 10:06:15 +0000 http://richardlangworth.com/?p=706#comment-14786 Optimists and Pessimists: Someone forgot to do their research before their big meeting: https://youtu.be/DkYTmN7_fi8

]]> By: Richard Langworth http://localhost:8080/quotatioins#comment-13163 Mon, 06 Feb 2017 21:12:02 +0000 http://richardlangworth.com/?p=706#comment-13163 In reply to Alex.

Thanks for your resolve! Unfortunately, I don’t know who said it, nor does Ralph Keyes of The Quote Verifier. But there are some alternate things Churchill reliably said on the subject. See my post:
https://richardlangworth.com/optimists-pessimists

]]> By: Alex http://localhost:8080/quotatioins#comment-13162 Mon, 06 Feb 2017 20:33:33 +0000 http://richardlangworth.com/?p=706#comment-13162 I am also wondering who did say A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty. I’m using this quote in a speech and I NEED the correct citation. I NEVER perpetuate false claims.

]]> By: Richard Langworth http://localhost:8080/quotatioins#comment-12140 Sun, 27 Sep 2015 16:12:04 +0000 http://richardlangworth.com/?p=706#comment-12140 In reply to Kate Bowles.

I’m sorry but I don’t. It’s been around many years and Googling it produces numerous sites crediting it to Churchill, but with no citations.

]]> By: Kate Bowles http://localhost:8080/quotatioins#comment-12136 Sat, 26 Sep 2015 22:43:13 +0000 http://richardlangworth.com/?p=706#comment-12136 Do you have any leads on the source of the strategy quote? When did it start to attach itself to Churchill?

]]> By: Richard Langworth http://localhost:8080/quotatioins#comment-11331 Sat, 11 Jul 2015 13:54:27 +0000 http://richardlangworth.com/?p=706#comment-11331 In reply to Mack Salamasond.

More or less, but it’s a garbled and truncated version of two separate comments. I’ve made this the subject of a separate post: https://richardlangworth.com/socialism

]]> By: Mack Salamasond http://localhost:8080/quotatioins#comment-11317 Fri, 10 Jul 2015 19:22:19 +0000 http://richardlangworth.com/?p=706#comment-11317 This is now going around the web attributed to Churchill. Is it accurate? “Socialism is a philosophy of failure, the creed of ignorance, and the gospel of envy, its inherent virtue is the equal sharing of misery.”

]]> By: Richard M. Langworth http://localhost:8080/quotatioins#comment-6852 Sun, 26 Oct 2014 12:27:39 +0000 http://richardlangworth.com/?p=706#comment-6852 In reply to Jack b.

He did NOT say, “If you’re going through hell, keep going.” No attribution whatsoever. It’s “Churchilllian (or Yogi Berra) drift: https://richardlangworth.com/drift

]]> By: Jack b http://localhost:8080/quotatioins#comment-6679 Tue, 21 Oct 2014 19:57:53 +0000 http://richardlangworth.com/?p=706#comment-6679 He did say “If you’re going through hell, keep going”

]]> By: www.ask.com http://localhost:8080/quotatioins#comment-4825 Sun, 07 Sep 2014 01:44:46 +0000 http://richardlangworth.com/?p=706#comment-4825 It’s very easy to find out any matter on web as compared to textbooks, as
I found this paragraph at this website.

]]> By: Richard M. Langworth http://localhost:8080/quotatioins#comment-770 Fri, 28 Sep 2012 12:39:13 +0000 http://richardlangworth.com/?p=706#comment-770 Sorry, I don’t, nor does my colleague Ralph Keyes (“The Quote Verifier”). Like many “red herrings,” it is all over the web ascribed to Churchill–and not one of those appearances offers a source (speech, book or whatever). If he said it, I have yet to see attribution.

He did say some amusing things about optimists and pessimists, which I will post today: http://richardlangworth.com/optimists

]]> By: Julie http://localhost:8080/quotatioins#comment-769 Thu, 27 Sep 2012 18:51:44 +0000 http://richardlangworth.com/?p=706#comment-769 Do you know who did say “A pes­simist sees the dif­fi­culty in every oppor­tu­nity; an opti­mist sees the oppor­tu­nity in every difficulty”? I can’t find it anywhere as everyone attributes it to Churchill.

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