Quotes by Winston Churchill (Page 3 of 3)

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

I am ready to meet my Maker. Whether my Maker is prepared for the great ordeal of meeting me is another matter.

The truth is incontrovertible, malice may attack it, ignorance may deride it, but in the end; there it is.

The length of this document defends it well against the risk of its being read.

We are stripped bare by the curse of plenty.

I always avoid prophesying beforehand, because it is a much better policy to prophesy after the event has already taken place.

Do not let spacious plans for a new world divert your energies from saving what is left of the old.

Eating words has never given me indigestion.

If you go on with this nuclear arms race, all you are going to do is make the rubble bounce.

Most people stumble over the truth, now and then, but they usually manage to pick themselves up and go on, anyway.

If the human race wishes to have a prolonged and indefinite period of material prosperity, they have only got to behave in a peaceful and helpful way toward one another.

I always seem to get inspiration and renewed vitality by contact with this great novel land of yours which sticks up out of the Atlantic.

It is a fine thing to be honest, but it is also very important to be right.

Meeting Franklin Roosevelt was like opening your first bottle of champagne; knowing him was like drinking it.

Russia is a riddle wrapped in a mystery inside an enigma.

Although personally I am quite content with existing explosives, I feel we must not stand in the path of improvement.

I like a man who grins when he fights.

It was the nation and the race dwelling all round the globe that had the lion's heart. I had the luck to be called upon to give the roar.

To build may have to be the slow and laborious task of years. To destroy can be the thoughtless act of a single day.

There is no such thing as public opinion. There is only published opinion.

The short words are best, and the old words are the best of all.

We occasionally stumble over the truth but most of us pick ourselves up and hurry off as if nothing had happened.

Play the game for more than you can afford to lose... only then will you learn the game.

True genius resides in the capacity for evaluation of uncertain, hazardous, and conflicting information.

It is a mistake to look too far ahead. Only one link of the chain of destiny can be handled at a time.

Never hold discussions with the monkey when the organ grinder is in the room.

My rule of life prescribed as an absolutely sacred rite smoking cigars and also the drinking of alcohol before, after and if need be during all meals and in the intervals between them.

When the war of the giants is over the wars of the pygmies will begin.

If the Almighty were to rebuild the world and asked me for advice, I would have English Channels round every country. And the atmosphere would be such that anything which attempted to fly would be set on fire.

We shall draw from the heart of suffering itself the means of inspiration and survival.

Difficulties mastered are opportunities won.

Without tradition, art is a flock of sheep without a shepherd. Without innovation, it is a corpse.

If it weren't for painting, I wouldn't live; I couldn't bear the extra strain of things.

Healthy citizens are the greatest asset any country can have.

It has been said that democracy is the worst form of government except all the others that have been tried.

It is more agreeable to have the power to give than to receive.

The farther backward you can look, the farther forward you can see.

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

'No comment' is a splendid expression. I am using it again and again.

The power of man has grown in every sphere, except over himself.

I have taken more out of alcohol than alcohol has taken out of me.

It is no use saying, 'We are doing our best.' You have got to succeed in doing what is necessary.

It is always wise to look ahead, but difficult to look further than you can see.

The power of an air force is terrific when there is nothing to oppose it.

We have always found the Irish a bit odd. They refuse to be English.

No idea is so outlandish that it should not be considered with a searching but at the same time a steady eye.

Politics is almost as exciting as war, and quite as dangerous. In war you can only be killed once, but in politics many times.

A politician needs the ability to foretell what is going to happen tomorrow, next week, next month, and next year. And to have the ability afterwards to explain why it didn't happen.

Some people regard private enterprise as a predatory tiger to be shot. Others look on it as a cow they can milk. Not enough people see it as a healthy horse, pulling a sturdy wagon.

One ought never to turn one's back on a threatened danger and try to run away from it. If you do that, you will double the danger. But if you meet it promptly and without flinching, you will reduce the danger by half. Never run away from anything. Never!

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.

Christmas is a season not only of rejoicing but of reflection.

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.

Now this is not the end. It is not even the beginning of the end. But it is, perhaps, the end of the beginning.