1/18/2011

Quotes from Sir Winston Churchill

All the following quotes have been attributed to Sir Winston Churchill (1874 - 1965) 
 
If you have ten thousand regulations you destroy all respect for the law.

My most brilliant achievement was my ability to be able to persuade my wife to marry me.

My wife and I tried two or three times in the last 40 years to have breakfast together, but it was so disagreeable we had to stop.

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

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.

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

Lady Astor: "Winston, if you were my husband I would flavour your coffee with poison"
Churchill: "Madam, if I were your husband, I should drink it"


Bessie Braddock: "Winston, your drunk!"
Churchill: "Bessie, you're ugly, but tomorrow morning I shall be sober."
I wonder what he'd say today?

10 comments:

  1. Those quotes are great! I love the one about the poison and the other about Americans. I just read them to one of my older daughters and she is laughing so loud I think the neighbors might hear her- we live on a large farm too!
    The Bessie conversation is so funny. I really enjoyed this post. I have often followed the never, never, never quote, but I hadn't heard many of the others. Thanks!

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  2. "If you have ten thousand regulations you destroy all respect for the law." Agreed.

    Winston Churchill was a great friend of the US--as can be clearly seen by that little quote about Americans (given perspective when read in concert with the bottom quote: "Never, never, never give up.")

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  3. Hello there, Homeschool on the Croft! It's my first time visiting your blog and what a nice visit it was :o) ... how cute was one of your previous post where you little boy was way out in the field! and what gorgeous sounding of nature you are in. We are a homeschooling too, I'm so thankful for the freedom in which to do so. I read that you love history, I have to admit that since I've become a 'homeschool mom' I've turned into a 'history' lover myself. Hope to have you visit at blog sometime.
    Blessings, Deanna

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  4. Winston Churchill was a smart man. We're feeling the regulation thing over here that is for sure. Everyone wants to regulate everything to death but completely ignore the Constitution, the essence of Law itself.

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  5. Wasn't it President Reagan, speaking of the Democrats and their policies, who said:
    'If it moves, tax it. If it keeps moving, regulate it. And if it stops moving, subsidize it.'

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  6. Thank you for sharing these, I love reading them, where are the Winston Churchill's now? We surely need his wisdom in this day and age!

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  7. I use a story about Sir Winston Churchill in the workshop I give for struggling learners at homeschool conferences because, apparently, he did not do particularly well in school and he was very impulsive as a boy.

    His father didn't think he would amount to much (although his parents did not seem to be very involved in his upbringing). Anyway, Churchill is a good example of how God uses uses those strong willed boys!

    By the way, his mother was American! Also, he had a nanny/nurse who was the daughter of the vicar and she had quite a positive influence on his life and seemed to have a true faith in God that she passed on to him. He put flowers on her grave every year until he died.

    An interesting and mighty man. We need more people like him today who aren't afraid to offend people and who aren't afraid to do what is right!

    Jill Farris (Washington state U.S.)

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  8. Jill, yes we certainly need more like him today. I've written a number of times about him, and I believe the influence of his Christian nanny left a lasting impression. He is quoted to have said that all she taught him meant little to him until he was a prisoner of war during the Boer War. In that prison, he said, all the Scriptures and prayers she'd quoted became real to my heart.
    And yes, he hated school! This is what allowed us total freedom to homeschool in the UK. Legally, in the UK, parents are obliged to see to it that their children are educated according to age and ability 'in school *or otherwise*'. These words, 'or otherwise' give us our wonderful liberties. Good on Winston!!

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  9. Oh, and yes, his mother was American. Not only for this reason, but because he realized that the British and Americans has a more similar 'psyche' than the Europeans, he always said that the UK ought always to look westward, not to the continent, for its friends. "I concur!!"

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  10. Love all these, especially the full text of the "Never, never, never give in" quote. Some of them are new to me. Thanks for sharing.

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