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Winston Churchill
510 quotes
“My friends, I must tell you that a Socialist policy is abhorrent to the British ideas of freedom. Although it is now put forward in the main by people who have a good grounding in the Liberalism and Radicalism of the early part of the century, there can be no doubt that Socialism is inseparably interwoven with Totalitarianism and the abject worship of the State. It is not alone that property, in all its forms, is struck at, but that liberty, in all its form, is challenged by the fundamental conceptions of Socialism.”
Winston Churchill (1874–1965) first seen 1945 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Broadcast for the 1945 general election (4 June 1945), quoted in Martin Gilbert, Never Despair': Winston S. Churchill, 1945–1965 (1988), pp. 33-34
“How is an ordinary citizen or subject of the King to stand up against this formidable machine, which, once it is in power, will prescribe for every one of them where they are to work; what they are to work at; where they may go and what they may say; what views they are to hold and within what limits they may express them; where their wives are to go to queue up for the State ration; and what education their children are to receive to mould their views of human liberty and conduct in the future?”
Winston Churchill (1874–1965) first seen 1945 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Broadcast for the 1945 general election (4 June 1945), quoted in Martin Gilbert, Never Despair': Winston S. Churchill, 1945–1965 (1988), p. 34
“I spoke of the melancholy financial position of Great Britain. Half our foreign investments had been spent in the common cause when we stood alone. There is a great external debt of three thousand million pounds. We should require time to get on our feet again. The President listened closely, attentively and sympathetically. He spoke of the immense debt the Allies owed to Britain for that period when she fought alone. "If you had gone like France," he added, "we might well be fighting the Germans on the American coast at the present time.”
Winston Churchill (1874–1965) first seen 1940 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Churchill's account of his conversation with President Truman (18 July 1945), quoted in Lord Moran, Winston Churchill: The Struggle for Survival, 1940-1965 (1968), p. 298
“Peace with Germany and Japan on our terms will not bring much rest to you and me (if I am still responsible). As I observed last time, when the war of the giants is over, the war of the pygmies will begin.”
Winston Churchill (1874–1965) first seen 1945 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Telegram to FDR, March 18, 1945
“The inherent vice of capitalism is the unequal sharing of blessings. The inherent virtue of Socialism is the equal sharing of miseries.”
Winston Churchill (1874–1965) first seen 1945 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Speech in the House of Commons (October 22, 1945) "Demobilisation
“The most dangerous moment of the War, and the one which caused me the greatest alarm, was when the Japanese Fleet was heading for Ceylon and the naval base there. The capture of Ceylon, the consequent control of the Indian Ocean, and the possibility at the same time of a German conquest of Egypt would have closed the ring and the future would have been black.”
Winston Churchill (1874–1965) first seen 1942 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Remarks on the April 5, 1942) Easter Sunday Raid on Colombo, Ceylon (Sri Lanka) on 5 April 1942. From a conversation at the British Embassy, Washington D.C. in 1946, as described by Leonard Birchall, RCAF, in Battle for…
“The Dark Ages may return, the Stone Age may return on the gleaming wings of Science, and what might now shower immeasurable material blessings upon mankind, may even bring about its total destruction. Beware, I say; time may be short.”
Winston Churchill (1874–1965) first seen 1946 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: The Sinews of Peace speech, Westminster College, Fulton, Missouri, March 5, 1946.
“[Christopher Soames, Churchill's future son-in-law, remembered] Churchill showing him around Chartwell Farm [around 1946]. When they came to the piggery Churchill scratched one of the pigs and said: I am fond of pigs. Dogs look up to us. Cats look down on us. Pigs treat us as equals.”
Winston Churchill (1874–1965) first seen 1945 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Christopher Soames, speech at the Reform Club (28 April 1981), reported in Martin S. Gilbert, Winston S. Churchill. Volume Eight: Never Despair: 1945–1965. p. 304
“Meeting Roosevelt was like uncorking your first bottle of champagne.”
Winston Churchill (1874–1965) said by 1965 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“I think 'No Comment' is a splendid expression. I am using it again and again.”
Winston Churchill (1874–1965) first seen 1946 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: After using the phrase when interviewed by reporters in Miami on 12 February, 1946; quoted in Churchill's "Iron Curtain" Speech Fifty Years Later by James W. Muller, University of Missouri Press (1999), p. 20
“The very first thing the President did was to show me the new Presidential Seal, which he had just redesigned. He explained, 'The seal has to go everywhere the President goes. It must be displayed upon the lectern when he speaks. The eagle used to face the arrows but I have re-designed it so that it now faces the olive branches ... what do you think?' I said, 'Mr. President, with the greatest respect, I would prefer the American eagle's neck to be on a swivel so that it could face the olive branches or the arrows, as the occasion might demand.'”
Winston Churchill (1874–1965) first seen 1946 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: An exchange (March 4, 1946) with Harry S. Truman aboard the Presidential train in Washington, D.C.'s Union Station before journeying to Fulton, Missouri; as quoted in "The Genius and Wit of Winston Churchill" by Robin L…
“When I was a young subaltern in the South African War, the water was not fit to drink. To make it palatable we had to put a bit of whiskey in it. By diligent effort I learned to like it.”
Winston Churchill (1874–1965) first seen 1946 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Aboard the Presidential train during the journey to Fulton, Missouri (March 4, 1946); quoted in Conflict and Crisis by Robert Donovan, University of Missouri Press (1996), p. 190
“A shadow has fallen upon the scenes so lately lighted by the Allied victory.... From Stettin in the Baltic to Trieste in the Adriatic an iron curtain has descended across the Continent.”
Winston Churchill (1874–1965) first seen 1920 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: On Soviet communism and the Cold War, in a speech at Fulton, Missouri on March 5, 1946 (complete text). Churchill did not coin the phrase "iron curtain", however; the 1920 book Through Bolshevik Russia by English suffra…
“We must build a kind of United States of Europe.”
Winston Churchill (1874–1965) first seen 1946 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Speech at Zurich University (September 19, 1946) (partial text) ().
“We must all turn our backs upon the horrors of the past. We must look to the future. We cannot afford to drag forward cross the years that are to come the hatreds and revenges which have sprung from the injuries of the past.”
Winston Churchill (1874–1965) first seen 1946 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Speech at Zurich University (September 19, 1946) (partial text) ().
“Is there any need for further floods of agony? Is the only lesson of history to be that mankind is unteachable? Let there be justice, mercy and freedom. The people have only to will it, and all will achieve their hearts' desire.”
Winston Churchill (1874–1965) first seen 1946 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Speech at Zurich University (September 19, 1946) (partial text) ().
“The salvation of the common people of every race and of every land from war or servitude must be established on solid foundations and must be guarded by the readiness of all men and women to die rather than submit to tyranny.”
Winston Churchill (1874–1965) first seen 1946 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Speech at Zurich University (September 19, 1946) (partial text) ().
“There is less there than meets the eye.”
Winston Churchill (1874–1965) first seen 1946 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: On Prime Minister Clement Attlee, to President Truman, in 1946. When Truman defended Attlee ('He seems a modest sort of fellow'), Churchill replied 'He's got a lot to be modest about.' As cited in The Origins of the Col…
“I gather, young man, that you wish to be a Member of Parliament. The first lesson that you must learn is that, when I call for statistics about the rate of infant mortality, what I want is proof that fewer babies died when I was Prime Minister than when anyone else was Prime Minister. That is a political statistic.”
Winston Churchill (1874–1965) first seen 1945 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: When Churchill was in opposition after 1945, he led the Conservative Party in a debate about the Health Service. As he listened to Aneurin Bevan's opening speech, he called for some statistics about infant mortality ...…
“It is with deep grief I watch the clattering down of the British Empire, with all its glories and all the services it has rendered to mankind. ... Many have defended Britain against her foes. None can defend her against herself.”
Winston Churchill (1874–1965) first seen 1947 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Speech in the House of Commons (6 March 1947) on Indian independence
“You may try to destroy wealth, and find that all you have done is to increase poverty.”
Winston Churchill (1874–1965) first seen 1947 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Churchill By Himself: The Definitive Collections of Quotations, ed. Richard Langworth, 2008, p. 29 (1947, 12 March)
“When I am abroad I always make it a rule never to criticize or attack the Government of my country. I make up for lost time when I am at home.”
Winston Churchill (1874–1965) first seen 1947 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: In the House of Commons (18 April 1947), cited in The Oxford Dictionary of Political Quotations (1996), Jay, Oxford University Press, p. 93.
“When I was younger I made it a rule never to take strong drink before lunch. It is now my rule never to do so before breakfast.”
Winston Churchill (1874–1965) said by 1965 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Reply to King George VI, on a cold morning at the airport. The King had asked if Churchill would take something to warm himself. As cited in Man of the Century (2002), Ramsden, Columbia University Press, p. 134
“All the greatest things are simple, and many can be expressed in a single word: Freedom; Justice; Honour; Duty; Mercy; Hope.”
Winston Churchill (1874–1965) first seen 1947 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: United Europe Meeting, Albert Hall, London (May 14, 1947). Cited in Churchill by Himself, ed. Langworth, PublicAffairs (2008), p. 26
“Democracy is not a caucus, obtaining a fixed term of office by promises, and then doing what it likes with the people. We hold that there ought to be a constant relationship between the rulers and the people. "Government of the people, by the people, for the people," still remains the sovereign definition of democracy.”
Winston Churchill (1874–1965) first seen 1947 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Speech in the House of Commons (11 November 1947), published in 205 The Official Report, House of Commons (5th Series), 11 November 1947, vol. 444, cc.
“Many forms of Government have been tried and will be tried in this world of sin and woe. No one pretends that democracy is perfect or all-wise. Indeed, it has been said that democracy is the worst form of government except all those other forms that have been tried from time to time; but there is the broad feeling in our country that the people should rule, continuously rule, and that public opinion, expressed by all constitutional means, should shape, guide, and control the actions of Ministers who are their servants and not their masters.”
Winston Churchill (1874–1965) first seen 1947 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Speech in the House of Commons (11 November 1947), published in 206–07 The Official Report, House of Commons (5th Series), 11 November 1947, vol. 444, cc.
“I am ready to meet my Maker. Whether my Maker is prepared for the great ordeal of meeting me is another matter.”
Winston Churchill (1874–1965) first seen 1947 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: On his 75th birthday (1947), in reply to a question on whether he was afraid of death, quoted in the N. Y. Times Magazine on November 1, 1964, p. 40 according to Quote It Completely! (1998), Gerhart, Wm. S. Hein Publish…
“When losses are made, under the present system those losses are borne by the individuals who sustained them and took the risk and judged things wrongly, whereas under State management all losses are quartered upon the taxpayers and the community as a whole. The elimination of the profit motive and of self-interest as a practical guide in the myriad transactions of daily life will restrict, paralyse and destroy British ingenuity, thrift, contrivance and good housekeeping at every stage in our life and production, and will reduce all our industries from a profit-making to a loss-making process.”
Winston Churchill (1874–1965) first seen 1947 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Churchill By Himself: The Definitive Collections of Quotations, ed. Richard Langworth, 2008, p. 394, Belle Vue, Manchester (Europe, p. 212) (1947, 6 December)
“For my part, I consider that it will be found much better by all Parties to leave the past to history, especially as I propose to write that history myself.”
Winston Churchill (1874–1965) first seen 1948 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Speech in the House of Commons (January 23, 1948), cited in The Yale Book of Quotations (2006), Fred R. Shapiro, Yale University Press, p. 154
“I am shocked by this wicked crime.”
Winston Churchill (1874–1965) first seen 1948 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Reaction to the assassination of Gandhi. Ottawa Citizen, Jan. 27, 1948.
“We may indeed ask ourselves how it is that capitalism and free enterprise enable the United States not only to support its vast and varied life and needs, but also to supply these enormous sums to lighten the burden of others in distress.”
Winston Churchill (1874–1965) first seen 1948 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Churchill By Himself: The Definitive Collections of Quotations, ed. Richard Langworth, 2008, p. 124 (1948, 21 April)
“The Family Allowance Act was passed by the Conservative Caretaker Government. School milk was started in 1934 by a Conservative Parliament. The idea of welfare foods was largely developed by Lord Woolton. The Education Act was the work of Mr Butler... These facts should be repeated on every occasion by those who wish the truths to be known.”
Winston Churchill (1874–1965) first seen 1900 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Speech to Conservative women (21 April 1948), quoted in Paul Addison, Churchill On The Home Front, 1900–1955 (1992), pp. 399-400
“Socialism is the philosophy of failure, the creed of ignorance and the gospel of envy.”
Winston Churchill (1874–1965) first seen 1948 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Speech (May 28, 1948) at the Scottish Unionist Conference, Perth, Scotland, in Never Give In! : The best of Winston Churchill's Speeches (2003), Hyperion, p. 446
“When I see the present Socialist Government denouncing capitalism in all its forms, mocking with derision and contempt the tremendous free enterprise capitalist system on which the mighty production of the United States is founded, I cannot help feeling that as a nation we are not acting honourably or even honestly.”
Winston Churchill (1874–1965) first seen 1948 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Churchill By Himself: The Definitive Collections of Quotations, ed. Richard Langworth, 2008, p. 124, (1948, 10 July) Woodford, Essex, Europe, 374)
“I think the day will come when it will be recognized without doubt, not only on one side of the House, but throughout the civilized world, that the strangling of Bolshevism at its birth would have been an untold blessing to the human race.”
Winston Churchill (1874–1965) first seen 1949 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: In the House of Commons, (26 January 1949)
“If you make 10,000 regulations you destroy all respect for the law.”
Winston Churchill (1874–1965) first seen 1949 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: In the House of Commons (3 February 1949), as quoted in Churchill by Himself (2008), ed. Langworth, PublicAffairs, p. 17
“The choice is between two ways of life: between individual liberty and State domination; between concentrations of ownership in the hands of the State and the extension of ownership over the widest number of individuals; between the dead hand of monopoly and the stimulus of competition; between a policy of increasing restraint and a policy of liberating energy and ingenuity; between a policy of leveling down and a policy of opportunity for all to rise upwards from a basic standard.”
Winston Churchill (1874–1965) first seen 1897 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Winston S. Churchill: His Complete Speeches 1897-1963, Vol. VII, New York: Chelsea House/Bowker, (1974), Wolverhampton, (23 July 1949) p. 7835
“Broadly speaking, short words are best, and the old words, when short, are best of all.”
Winston Churchill (1874–1965) first seen 1949 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Speech on receiving the London Times Literary Award November 2, 1949
“The reason for having diplomatic relations is not to confer a compliment, but to secure a convenience.”
Winston Churchill (1874–1965) first seen 1949 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: In the House of Commons (17 November 1949) "Foreign Affairs", on diplomatic recognition of the People's Republic of China, as cited in Churchill by Himself (2008), ed. Langworth, PublicAffairs, p. 16
“Winston: "I shall go to Chartwell next weekend."Clementine: "Winston, you can’t. It's closed and there will be no-one to cook for you."Winston: "I shall cook for myself. I can boil an egg. I’ve seen it done.”
Winston Churchill (1874–1965) said by 1965 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Conversation between Churchill and wife Clementine Churchill related by Anthony Montague Browne in his 1995 book Long Sunset (early 1950s)
“It excites world wonder in the Parliamentary countries that we should build a Chamber, starting afresh, which can only seat two-thirds of its Members. It is difficult to explain this to those who do not know our ways. They cannot easily be made to understand why we consider that the intensity, passion, intimacy, informality and spontaneity of our Debates constitute the personality of the House of Commons and endow it at once with its focus and its strength.”
Winston Churchill (1874–1965) first seen 1950 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Speech in the House of Commons, October 24, 1950 "Motion for Address in Reply".
“The object of Parliament is to substitute argument for fisticuffs.”
Winston Churchill (1874–1965) first seen 1951 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Speech in the House of Commons (June 6, 1951) ; in Churchill by Himself (2008), ed. Langworth, PublicAffairs, p. 22
“The Chinese said of themselves several thousand years ago: "China is a sea that salts all the waters that flow into it." There's another Chinese saying about their country which is much more modern—it dates only from the fourth century. This is the saying: "The tail of China is large and will not be wagged." I like that one. The British democracy approves the principles of movable party heads and unwaggable national tails. It is due to the working of these important forces that I have the honour to be addressing you at this moment.”
Winston Churchill (1874–1965) first seen 1897 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Address to a joint session of Congress, Washington, D.C. (January 17, 1952); reported in Winston S. Churchill: His Complete Speeches, 1897–1963, ed. Robert Rhodes James (1974), vol. 8, p. 8326.
“But now let me return to my theme of the many changes that have taken place since I was last here. There is a jocular saying: To improve is to change; to be perfect is to have changed often. I had to use that once or twice in my long career.”
Winston Churchill (1874–1965) first seen 1952 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Address to a joint session of Congress, Washington, D.C., (17 January 1952) "We Must Not Lose Hope", in The Great Republic : A History of America (2000), Churchill, Random House, p. 399
“[T]omorrow the proclamation of her sovereignty will command the loyalty of her native land and of all other parts of the British Commonwealth and Empire. I, whose youth was passed in the august, unchallenged and tranquil glories of the Victorian Era, may well feel a thrill in invoking, once more, the prayer and the Anthem, GOD SAVE THE QUEEN.”
Winston Churchill (1874–1965) first seen 1951 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Broadcast upon the accession of Elizabeth II (7 February 1952) , quoted in Winston Churchill, Stemming the Tide: Speeches 1951 and 1952 (1953), p. 240
“I am against the monopoly enjoyed by the BBC. For eleven years they kept me off the air. They prevented me from expressing views which have proved to be right. Their behaviour has been tyrannical. They are honeycombed with Socialists—probably with Communists.”
Winston Churchill (1874–1965) first seen 1940 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Remarks to Lord Moran (3 June 1952), quoted in Lord Moran, Winston Churchill: The Struggle for Survival, 1940-1965 (1966; 1968), p. 416.
“Personally, I am always ready to learn, although I do not always like being taught, but I shall not attempt to foreshadow the proposals which will be brought before the House tomorrow. Today it will be sufficient and appropriate to deal with the obvious difficulties and confusion of the situation as we found it on taking office.”
Winston Churchill (1874–1965) first seen 1952 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: In debate in the House of Commons, 4 Nov 1952
“We in this small Island have to make a supreme effort to maintain our place and status, the place and status to which our undying genius entitles us.”
Winston Churchill (1874–1965) first seen 1952 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Speech at Harrow School, 7 November 1952. Quoted in Field Marshal Lord Michael Carver: "Tightrope Walking" (1992), pg 34
“Nicholas Soames: "Is it true, grandpapa, that you are the greatest man in the world?" Churchill: "Yes I am. Now bugger off.”
Winston Churchill (1874–1965) first seen 1953 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Approximately 1953
“Without tradition, art is a flock of sheep without a shepherd. Without innovation, it is a corpse.”
Winston Churchill (1874–1965) first seen 1953 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: From a speech given at the Royal Academy of Art in 1953; quoted in Time magazine (11 May 1954).