One of my favourites, On being told by a curvaceous female fan at the unveiling of his sculpture, "Mr Churchill, I want you to know that I got up at dawn and drove a hundred miles for the unveiling of your bust", Winston replied, no doubt with a twinkle in his eye, "Madam, I want you to know that I would happily reciprocate the honour".
"There is a forgotten, nay almost forbidden word, which means more to me than any other. That word is England".
Forgive me, but this is not verbatim, as I can't now find it anywhere. Aide to WSC as the latter is sitting on the lavatory. "Mr Churchill, the Lord Privvy Seal is here to see you" Chuchill to Aide. "You can tell the Lord Privvy Seal, that I'm sealed in the privvy, and too busy to see a shit so big as he!"
Not particularly witty, just insightful: "The fighters are our salvation, but the bombers alone provide the means of victory." Churchill, 1940
If we're having a thread for Hilter quotes, can we have one for Churchill ones? One of my own favourites is the joke it is claimed he used to tell in after dinner speeches: 'One incident preserved by General Ismay in an apocryphal and somewhat lively form may be allowed to lighten the narrative. His orderly, a Royal Marine, was shown the sights of Moscow by one of the Intourist guides. "This," said the Russian, is the Eden Hotel, formerly the Ribbentrop Hotel. Here is Churchill Street, formerly Hitler Street. Here is the Beaverbrook railway station, formerly Goering railway station. Will you have a cigarette, comrade?" The Marine replied, "Thank you, comrade, formerly bastard!"' Marina
DavidW I am reminded of this wonderful piece taken from “Loopy” Kennard’s autobiography. One of the perks of being commanding officer in the field is that it is thought appropriate for him to have his own loo, erected by the Provost Sergeant and shielded from public gaze by a canvas screen. Loopy was engaged in deep meditation whilst sitting on his “thunderbox” when a Brigadier arrived and demanded to see the CO immediately. His adjutant told the Brigadier “I’m afraid the Colonel’s on his thunderbox” but was told in turn “Go and bloody well get him now- I havn’t got all day !” The adjutant turned to run and pass on the message when a voice drifted faintly on the breeze saying “Tell the Brigadier I can only deal with one shit at a time !” Ron
For good or for ill, air mastery is today the supreme expression of military power and fleets and armies, however vital and important, must accept a subordinate rank. Winston Churchill You have enemies? Good. That means you've stood up for something, sometime in your life. Winston Churchill
History will be kind to me for I intend to write it. Winston Churchill (1874 – 1965) British prime minister, politician, statesman & orator
Mr Churchill continued the traditions of parliament - sadly long gone now when orators could hold floor. John Wilkes - noted for his wit; In a famous exchange with John Montagu, 4th Earl of Sandwich, where the latter exclaimed, "Sir, I do not know whether you will die on the gallows or of the pox," Wilkes is reported to have replied, "That depends, my lord, on whether I embrace your lordship's principles or your mistress. 'Sir, Your letter is before me, and it will presently be behind me. I remain, sir, your most humble servant.
Mr Churchill continued the traditions of parliament - sadly long gone now when orators could hold floor. John Wilkes - noted for his wit; In a famous exchange with John Montagu, 4th Earl of Sandwich, where the latter exclaimed, "Sir, I do not know whether you will die on the gallows or of the pox," Wilkes is reported to have replied, "That depends, my lord, on whether I embrace your lordship's principles or your mistress. I suppose I'm being churlish, but Wilkes probably never said this (like a lot of slightly-too-good-to-be-true bon mots, it had previously been attributed to several other wits. Churchill tends to 'attract' quotes in this way too). Best, Alan
There are simply too many to choose from- 'finest hour' I find personally the most moving, but you really can pick one for any occasion, and his personality seems to shine through so much of the time: Depressing (depressed?) Churchill: "A man's life is similar to a walk down a long passage with closed windows to each side. As you reach each window an unseen hand opens it; but the light that it lets in only increases by contrast the darkness at the end." (overly?) Idealistic Churchill to the US congress: 'In my country as in yours public men are proud to be the servants of the State and would be ashamed to be its masters' More Cheerful Churchill: ”Happy are the painters, for they shall not be lonely. Light and colour, peace and hope, will keep them company to the end of the day." Lesser-known determined Churchill quotation: ‘if they come to London, I shall take a rifle and put myself in the pillbox at the bottom of Downing Street, and shoot till I've no more ammunition, and then they can damned well shoot me’ [attributed to Churchill by Lord Halifax] I also love Alan Brooke's diary entry towards the end (don't have it to hand) where he is ashamed of having 'poured abuse' on Churchill in his diary, and thanks God for the opportunity of having worked with him. An amazing man. Video footage of his funeral shows DeGaulle in tears, of all people.
Last night, she who must be obeyed and I were watching University Challenge. It was part of the series where folk who had graduated many years ago came back to show what they had learned in the later years. Birmingham were asked " Which Prime Minister said 'I can only offer you blood, toil. sweat and tears and in what year did he say it ?' Before they could answer I shouted at the screen "Churchill- 1940!" It was of course correct and the team got the right answer seconds later but when I turned to my wife and said "Good ?" she replied "You were entitled to get it right.......he was in your regiment" Ron http://www.ww2talk.com/forum/veteran-accounts/29377-leave-glorious-leave-3.html Posting #30
Hello. I have read so many Winston Churchill Quotes and shared with my friends. My best quotes of Churchill is: Success is not final, failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that counts.
Winston S. Churchill's War Speeches : Winston S. Churchill : Free Download & Streaming : Internet Archive In simple terms: The English language used to perfection - extracts from his memoirs and speeches (134) spoken by the great man.
An Old Grenadier: Tradition does not mean that the living are dead, it means that the dead are living. Harold MacMillan.
