It is frequently asked: What did Churchill say about those who trade honor for peace having in neither in the end?
“War and Shame”There are two quotations. The first was Churchill in a letter to Lloyd George on 13 August 1938, just before the Munich Conference, which led to World War II a year later.
I think we shall have to choose in the next few weeks between war and shame, and I have very little doubt what the decision will be.
Reference is Churchill by Himself, page 256, quoting Martin Gilbert, ed., The Churchill Documents, vol.…
It is Commencement time across colleges and universities, and some speakers will be quoting Churchill on success in life. In the hope that they will quote him accurately, here is a small selection. At the bottom are two no-nos: things he never said, but is always credited as saying.
University of Miami, 26 February 1946:I am surprised that in my later life I should have become so experienced in taking degrees, when, as a school-boy I was so bad at passing examinations. In fact one might almost say that no one ever passed so few examinations and received so many degrees.…
Optimist and Pessimist: Fifteen minutes of fame! David Davis MP, Secretary of State for Brexit, boots one in his recent speech and I’m finally in The Guardian. Probably the first and last time, given my opinions. **
Question: Referring to your posts of quotations Churchill never said, do you know who actually did say “A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty”? I find no attribution other than to Churchill.
Pessimist: Not Churchill’s QuipAnswer: Sorry. I can’t track it; nor can my colleague Ralph Keyes, editor of The Quote Verifier.…
If a man is coming across the sea to kill you, you do everything in your power to make sure he dies before finishing his journey. That may be difficult, it may be painful, but at least it is simple. We are now entering a world of imponderables, and at every stage occasions for self-questioning arise. Only one link in the chain of destiny can be handled at a time.
—Winston S. Churchill, 18 February 1945
It was recently asserted that Churchill doesn’t have much to say to us today, and that the only people who use Churchill as a guide nowadays are “over-testosteroned American neocons.”…
(Or: “Churchillian Drift,” Part 1,398….)
On the eve of the British General Election, Metro UK declares: “Winston Churchill said the best argument against democracy is a five-minute conversation with the average voter.”
This is alas a reappearance of an ever-popular red-herring quote that Churchill never said.
Churchill had thoughtful critiques of democracy. See in particular his essay on “Mass Effects in Modern Life” in his book, Thoughts and Adventures. But he also had more respect for the average voter than this non-quote suggests. In the House of Commons on 31 October 1944 he said:
At the bottom of all the tributes paid to democracy is the little man, walking into the little booth, with a little pencil, making a little cross on a little bit of paper [we still vote that way in New Hampshire]—no amount of rhetoric or voluminous discussion can possibly diminish the overwhelming importance of that point.…
I searched Churchill’s 15 million published words (books, articles, speeches, private papers) but could find no occurrence of Santayana’s remark.…
Wasn’t on Twitter 24 hours before encountering the two most popular Churchill misquotes: (1) “Success is not final, failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that counts.” (2) “Success is the ability to go from one failure to another with no loss of enthusiasm.”
These pop up by the dozens every day; while included in some poorly researched quote books, neither can be found among Churchill’s 50 million published books, articles, speeches and papers; and words about him by close colleagues. They are also sometimes ascribed (also without attribution) to Abraham Lincoln.…
