Winston Churchill Quotes

You have enemies? Good. That means you've stood up for something, sometime in your life.

The POSITIVE THINKER sees the INVISIBLE, feels the INTANGIBLE, and achieves the IMPOSSIBLE.

If you will not fight for right when you can easily win without bloodshed; if you will not fight when your victory will be sure and not too costly; you may come to the moment when you will have to fight with all odds against you and only a precarious chance of survival. There may be even a worse fate, you may have to fight when there is no hope of victory, because it is better to perish than to live as slaves.

Diplomacy is the art of telling people to go to hell in such a way that they ask for directions.

Success is not final, failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that counts.

When you're 20 you care what everyone thinks, when you're 40 you stop caring what everyone thinks, when you're 60 you realize no one was ever thinking about you in the first place. You have enemies? Good. That means you've stood up for something, sometime in your life.

Individual Moslems may show splendid qualities. Thousands become the brave and loyal soldiers of the Queen: all know how to die: but the influence of the religion paralyses the social development of those who follow it. No stronger retrograde force exists in the world. Far from being moribund, Mohammedanism is a militant and proselytizing faith. It has already spread throughout Central Africa, raising fearless warriors at every step; and were it not that Christianity is sheltered in the strong arms of science, the science against which it had vainly struggled, the civilisation of modern Europe might fall, as fell the civilisation of ancient Rome.

There is nothing government can give you that it hasn't taken from you in the first place.

Socialism is a philosophy of failure, the creed of ignorance, and the gospel of envy, its inherent virtue is the equal sharing of misery.

You will never reach your destination if you stop and throw stones at every dog that barks.

Courage is what it takes to stand up and speak; courage is also what it takes to sit down and listen.

Everyone is in favor of free speech. Hardly a day passes without its being extolled, but some people's idea of it is that they are free to say what they like, but if anyone else says anything back, that is an outrage.

Success consists of going from failure to failure without loss of enthusiasm.

Fear is a reaction. Courage is a decision.

The best argument against democracy is a five-minute conversation with the average voter.

A nation that forgets its past has no future.

If you're not a liberal at twenty you have no heart, if you're not a conservative at forty, you have no brain.

Criticism may not be agreeable, but it is necessary. It fulfils the same function as pain in the human body. It calls attention to an unhealthy state of things.

A good speech should be like a woman's skirt: long enough to cover the subject and short enough to create interest

A lie gets halfway around the world before the truth has a chance to get its pants on.

Churchill: "Madam, would you sleep with me for five million pounds?" Socialite: "My goodness, Mr. Churchill... Well, I suppose... we would have to discuss terms, of course... " Churchill: "Would you sleep with me for five pounds?" Socialite: "Mr. Churchill, what kind of woman do you think I am?!" Churchill: "Madam, we've already established that. Now we are haggling about the price

If you're going through hell, keep going.

When the eagles are silent, the parrots begin to jabber.

Never give up on something that you can't go a day without thinking about.

We make a living by what we get, but we make a life by what we give.

I no longer listen to what people say, I just watch what they do. Behavior never lies.

The arts are essen­tial to any com­plete national life. The State owes it to itself to sus­tain and encour­age them. [...] Ill fares the race which fails to salute the arts with the rev­er­ence and delight which are their due.

A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty.

Continuous effort - not strength or intelligence - is the key to unlocking our potential.

Kites rise highest against the wind - not with it.

The greatest lesson in life is to know that even fools are right sometimes.

The gin and tonic has saved more Englishmen's lives, and minds, than all the doctors in the Empire.

We contend that 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.

To be really happy and really safe, one ought to have at least two or three hobbies, and they must all be real.

You can always count on Americans to do the right thing - after they've tried everything else.

We shall defend our island, whatever the cost may be, we shall fight on the beaches, we shall fight on the landing grounds, we shall fight in the fields and in the streets, we shall fight in the hills; we shall never surrender.

All the great things are simple, and many can be expressed in a single word: freedom, justice, honor, duty, mercy, hope.

I'd rather argue against a hundred idiots, than have one agree with me.

One man with conviction will overwhelm a hundred who have only opinions.

The main vice of capitalism is the uneven distribution of prosperity. The main vice of socialism is the even distribution of misery.

We must never cease to proclaim in fearless tones the great principles of freedom and the rights of man which are the joint inheritance of the English-speaking world and which through Magna Carta, the Bill of Rights, the Habeas Corpus, trial by jury, and the English common law find their most famous expression in the American Declaration of Independence.

Of all the branches of men in the forces there is none which shows more devotion and faces grimmer perils than the submariners.

Attitude is a little thing that makes a big difference.

To each there comes in their lifetime a special moment when they are figuratively tapped on the shoulder and offered the chance to do a very special thing, unique to them and fitted to their talents. What a tragedy if that moment finds them unprepared or unqualified for that which could have been their finest hour.

Schools have not necessarily much to do with education...they are mainly institutions of control where certain basic habits must be inculcated in the young. Education is quite different and has little place in school.

If Britain must choose between Europe and the open sea, she must always choose the open sea.

I have nothing to offer but blood, toil, tears and sweat.

The flags of the Confederate States of America were very important and a matter of great pride to those citizens living in the Confederacy. They are also a matter of great pride for their descendants as part of their heritage and history.

To improve is to change; to be perfect is to change often.

No hour of life is wasted that is spent in the saddle.