Tag: Winston S. Churchill

rough men
Seventy-nine years on: The Normandy Landings, June 1944, when rough men stood ready. (Supreme Headquarters Allied Expeditionary Forces, Wikimedia Commons)
D-Day +79: “Rough Men Stand Ready,” a Shared Sentiment

D-Day +79: “Rough Men Stand Ready,” a Shared Sentiment

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On the 79th anniversary of D-Day, this quote is likely to come up again. Neither Churchill's nor Orwell's, it nevertheless resounds with their sentiments. Quote Investigator provides a vast subtext to the various appearances and credits of “Rough men stand ready” over the years. Their conclusion is that no one specifically said the words. But Kipling may have inspired them, and Orwell paraphrased them, and they are in the Churchill spirit.

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OMG
“Lord Fisher comes aboard.” Cartoon on Churchill’s reappointment of retired Admiral Fisher as First Sea Lord shortly after the start of the First World War. (Cartoon by F.H. Townsend in Punch, public domain)
OMG: Churchillian Origins of the Popular Texters’ Phrase

OMG: Churchillian Origins of the Popular Texters’ Phrase

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Yes, credit OMG to Admiral Fisher. He had a flamboyant writing style, often signing his letters to Churchill, “Yours till a cinder” or "Yours till Hell freezes over." Many other other loquacious salutations made his lexicon of salubrious sign-offs. Given his  sudden resignation and disappearance from the Admiralty in May 1915, they were rather less than sincere.

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Thatcher
President Reagan and Prime Minister Thatcher with a Frank Salisbury painting of someone they both revered, during the President’s visit to 10 Downing Street, 9 June 1982. (White House photographic collection, public domain)
Winston Churchill and Margaret Thatcher: Two Meetings

Winston Churchill and Margaret Thatcher: Two Meetings

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Margaret Thatcher's biographer and Churchill’s bodyguard each knew of one Churchill-Thatcher meeting but not the other. The story of their two encounters demonstrates Lady Thatcher’s lifelong respect, and Churchill’s words on the regulatory state could have been her own words, 30 years later. When it came to liberty, neither were for turning.

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best
Churchill plants a boutonniere on President Truman before dining at the British Embassy, Washington, 8 January 1953. Six months later he was not sending bouquets. (Library of Congress, public domain)
Churchill Quotations: The Best Telegram He Ever Sent

Churchill Quotations: The Best Telegram He Ever Sent

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"I warned the Americans before Potsdam not to withdraw from any of the part of Germany we occupied until we had a satisfactory understanding. They would not listen. And they will not listen now when I warn them about Germany. At Potsdam I wanted Prussia isolated and Germany divided horizontally and not vertically." —Churchill according to Moran

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Notability
Notable and notorious: A collector’s item in 1900 was a postcard autographed by the most famous escapee from the Boers. (Photo by HJPrieß, Creative Commons)
Churchill’s Word Play: “Notability or Notoriety”

Churchill’s Word Play: “Notability or Notoriety”

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Manfred Weidhorn: "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."

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Tax
Young Winston haranguing the electors, Manchester, 1908. (Wikimedia Commons)
“A Nation Cannot Tax Itself into Prosperity”: Churchill’s Quote?

“A Nation Cannot Tax Itself into Prosperity”: Churchill’s Quote?

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Question: "Did Churchill say this? 'For a nation to try to tax itself into prosperity is like a man standing in a bucket and trying to lift himself up by the handle.' I can't find it in your 'Churchill by Himself.'" Answer: Indeed he did—and he liked that “bucket” gag so much that he used it at least five times. Someone with courage should pick it up again today.

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Memoirs
An immaculate set of the true first edition, by Houghton Mifflin, Boston. WSC, insisting that the UK edition be definitive, held up British proofs with last-minute corrections, allowing the Americans into print first—much to the discomfort of Cassell in London. (Photo courtesy Marc Kuritz, churchillbookcollector.com)
Churchill’s War Memoirs: Aside from the Story, Simply Great Writing

Churchill’s War Memoirs: Aside from the Story, Simply Great Writing

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"No other wartime leader in history has given us a work of two million words written only a few years after the events and filled with messages among world potentates which had so recently been heated and secret. The Memoirs are not just a unique revelation of the exercise of power from atop an empire in duress but also one of the fascinating products of the human spirit, both as an expression of a personality and as a somewhat anomalous epic tale filled with the depravities, miseries and glories of man." —Manfred Weidhorn

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Garibaldi
Meeting between Garibaldi and King Victor Emmanuel II on the bridge of Teano, 26 October, painting by Pietro Aldi, 1860. Sala del Risorgimento, Palazzo Pubblico, Siena. (Public domain)
Winston Churchill on Giuseppi Garibaldi

Winston Churchill on Giuseppi Garibaldi

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Churchill had profound respect for the Italian 19th century democratic revolutionary Giuseppe Garibaldi, and once hoped to write his biography. But it is unlikely that his famous lines, "blood, toil, tears and sweat" were adapted by something Garibaldi said—they date back quite a bit farther.

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Essays
Unique and unprecedented, the Collected Essays were a crucial addition to the published canon. Shown are the two original bindings: Centenary Limited Edition (vellum, left) and the Centenary Edition in navy quarter-morocco. (Photos: Mark Weber & Chartwell Booksellers)
Churchill’s Collected Essays, Invaluably Compiled by Michael Wolff

Churchill’s Collected Essays, Invaluably Compiled by Michael Wolff

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Michael Wolff's task as editor was to compile Churchill's periodical writings not already in the Collected Works. The result was four satisfying volumes that would then have cost a fortune to acquire in original form, assuming one could even locate them. Many periodicals were obscure, quickly read and discarded, their contents forgotten. Thus the unique value of the Collected Essays.

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legacy
Presentation of Churchill’s honorary citizenship, 9 April 1963. L-R: Acting Secretary of State George Ball, Lady Ormsby Gore, British Ambassador Sir David Ormsby Gore, Winston Churchill (grandson), Naval Aide Tazewell Shepard, President Kennedy, Jacqueline Kennedy, Randolph Churchill. Photo by Cecil Stoughton.
Enduring Legacy: U.S. National Churchill Day April 9th

Enduring Legacy: U.S. National Churchill Day April 9th

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"In this century of storm and tragedy, I contemplate with high satisfaction the constant factor of the interwoven and upward progress of our peoples.... Our comradeship and our brotherhood in war were unexampled. We stood together, and because of that fact the free world now stands.  Nor has our partnership any exclusive nature." —WSC

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RML Books

Richard Langworth’s Most Popular Books & eBooks


Winston Churchill, Myth and Reality

Churchill by Himself

Churchill in His Own Words

Churchill and the Avoidable War

The Definitive Wit of Winston Churchill

The Patriot’s Churchill

Triumph Cars - The Complete Story
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