YUKS
Quotes page 9
Winston
Churchill
Said:
A fanatic is one who can't change his mind and won't
change the subject.
A joke is a
very serious thing.
A lie gets
halfway around the world before the truth has a chance to get its pants on.
A pessimist
sees the difficulty in every opportunity; an optimist sees the opportunity in
every difficulty.
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.
A prisoner of
war is a man who tries to kill you and fails, and then asks you not to kill him.
All the great
things are simple, and many can be expressed in a single word: freedom, justice,
honor, duty, mercy, hope.
Although
personally I am quite content with existing explosives, I feel we must not stand
in the path of improvement.
Although
prepared for martyrdom, I preferred that it be postponed.
An appeaser is
one who feeds a crocodile, hoping it will eat him last.
Attitude is a
little thing that makes a big difference.
Baldwin thought
Europe was a bore, and Chamberlain thought it was only a greater Birmingham.
Battles are won
by slaughter and maneuver. The greater the general, the more he contributes in
maneuver, the less he demands in slaughter.
Before Alamein
we never had a victory. After Alamein we never had a defeat.
Broadly
speaking, the short words are the best, and the old words best of all.
Continuous
effort - not strength or intelligence - is the key to unlocking our potential.
Courage is
rightly esteemed the first of human qualities... because it is the quality which
guarantees all others.
Courage is what
it takes to stand up and speak; courage is also what it takes to sit down and
listen.
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.
Difficulties
mastered are opportunities won.
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.
Ending a
sentence with a preposition is something up with which I will not put.
Everyone has
his day and some days last longer than others.
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.
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.
From now on,
ending a sentence with a preposition is something up with which I will not put.
From Stettin in
the Baltic to Trieste in the Adriatic, an iron curtain has descended across the
Continent.
Great and good
are seldom the same man.
He has all of
the virtues I dislike and none of the vices I admire.
He has all the
virtues I dislike and none of the vices I admire.
Healthy
citizens are the greatest asset any country can have.
History is
written by the victors.
History will be
kind to me for I intend to write it.
However
beautiful the strategy, you should occasionally look at the results.
I always avoid
prophesying beforehand, because it is a much better policy to prophesy after the
event has already taken place.
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.
I am always
ready to learn although I do not always like being taught.
I am an
optimist. It does not seem too much use being anything else.
I am bored with
it all.
I am certainly
not one of those who need to be prodded. In fact, if anything, I am the prod.
I am easily
satisfied with the very best.
I am fond of
pigs. Dogs look up to us. Cats look down on us. Pigs treat us as equals.
I am never
going to have anything more to do with politics or politicians. When this war is
over I shall confine myself entirely to writing and painting.
I am prepared
to meet my Maker. Whether my Maker is prepared for the great ordeal of meeting
me is another matter.
I cannot
pretend to be impartial about the colours. I rejoice with the brilliant ones,
and am genuinely sorry for the poor browns.
I have been
brought up and trained to have the utmost contempt for people who get drunk.
I have never
developed indigestion from eating my words.
I have nothing
to offer but blood, toil, tears and sweat.
I have taken
more out of alcohol than alcohol has taken out of me.
I like a man
who grins when he fights.
I like pigs.
Dogs look up to us. Cats look down on us. Pigs treat us as equals.
I may be drunk,
Miss, but in the morning I will be sober and you will still be ugly.
I never worry
about action, but only about inaction.
I never worry
about action, but only inaction.
I was only the
servant of my country and had I, at any moment, failed to express her
unflinching resolve to fight and conquer, I should at once have been rightly
cast aside.
I'm just
preparing my impromptu remarks.
If Hitler
invaded hell I would make at least a favorable reference to the devil in the
House of Commons.
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.
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.
If we open a
quarrel between past and present, we shall find that we have lost the future.
If you are
going through hell, keep going.
If you go on
with this nuclear arms race, all you are going to do is make the rubble bounce.
If you have an
important point to make, don't try to be subtle or clever. Use a pile driver.
Hit the point once. Then come back and hit it again. Then hit it a third time-a
tremendous whack.
If you have ten
thousand regulations you destroy all respect for the law.
If you're going
through hell, keep going.
In the course
of my life, I have often had to eat my words, and I must confess that I have
always found it a wholesome diet.
In those days
he was wiser than he is now; he used to frequently take my advice.
In war as in
life, it is often necessary when some cherished scheme has failed, to take up
the best alternative open, and if so, it is folly not to work for it with all
your might.
In war, you can
only be killed once, but in politics, many times.
In wartime,
truth is so precious that she should always be attended by a bodyguard of lies.
India is a
geographical term. It is no more a united nation than the Equator.
It has been
said that democracy is the worst form of government except all the others that
have been tried.
It is a fine
thing to be honest, but it is also very important to be right.
It is a good
thing for an uneducated man to read books of quotations.
It is a good
thing for an uneducated man to read books of quotations... The quotations, when
engraved upon the memory, give you good thoughts. They also make you anxious to
read the authors and look for more.
It is a mistake
to look too far ahead. Only one link in the chain of destiny can be handled at a
time.
It is a mistake
to look too far ahead. Only one link of the chain of destiny can be handled at a
time.
It is always
wise to look ahead, but difficult to look further than you can see.
It is more
agreeable to have the power to give than to receive.
It is no use
saying, 'We are doing our best.' You have got to succeed in doing what is
necessary.
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.
Kites rise
highest against the wind - not with it.
Let our advance
worrying become advance thinking and planning.
Man will
occasionally stumble over the truth, but most of the time he will pick himself
up and continue on.
Meeting
Franklin Roosevelt was like opening your first bottle of champagne; knowing him
was like drinking it.
Men
occasionally stumble over the truth, but most of them pick themselves up and
hurry off as if nothing had happened.
Most people
stumble over the truth, now and then, but they usually manage to pick themselves
up and go on, anyway.
Mr. Attlee is a
very modest man. Indeed he has a lot to be modest about.
My most
brilliant achievement was my ability to be able to persuade my wife to marry me.
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.
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.
Never hold
discussions with the monkey when the organ grinder is in the room.
Never in the
field of human conflict was so much owed by so many to so few.
Never, never,
never give up.
"No
comment" is a splendid expression. I am using it again and again.
No crime is so
great as daring to excel.
No idea is so
outlandish that it should not be considered with a searching but at the same
time a steady eye.
No part of the
education of a politician is more indispensable than the fighting of elections.
Nothing can be
more abhorrent to democracy than to imprison a person or keep him in prison
because he is unpopular. This is really the test of civilization.
Nothing in life
is so exhilarating as to be shot at without result.
Now this is not
the end. It is not even the beginning of the end. But it is, perhaps, the end of
the beginning.
One does not
leave a convivial party before closing time.
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!
Perhaps it is
better to be irresponsible and right, than to be responsible and wrong.
Personally I'm
always ready to learn, although I do not always like being taught.
Play the game
for more than you can afford to lose... only then will you learn the game.
Politics are
very much like war. We may even have to use poison gas at times.
Politics is
almost as exciting as war, and quite as dangerous. In war you can only be killed
once, but in politics many times.
Politics is not
a game. It is an earnest business.
Politics is 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.
Really I feel
less keen about the Army every day. I think the Church would suit me better.
Russia is a
riddle wrapped in a mystery inside an enigma.
Short words are
best and the old words when short are best of all.
Socialism is a
philosophy of failure, the creed of ignorance, and the gospel of envy, its
inherent virtue is the equal sharing of misery.
Solitary trees,
if they grow at all, grow strong.
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.
Study history,
study history. In history lies all the secrets of statecraft.
Success
consists of going from failure to failure without loss of enthusiasm.
Success is
going from failure to failure without a loss of enthusiam.
Success is
going from failure to failure without losing enthusiasm.
Success is not
final, failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that counts.
Sure I am of
this, that you have only to endure to conquer.
Sure I am of
this, that you have only to endure to conquer. You have only to persevere to
save yourselves.
The best
argument against democracy is a five-minute conversation with the average voter.
The British
nation is unique in this respect. They are the only people who like to be told
how bad things are, who like to be told the worst.
The empires of
the future are the empires of the mind.
The farther
backward you can look, the farther forward you can see.
The first
quality that is needed is audacity.
The great
defense against the air menace is to attack the enemy's aircraft as near as
possible to their point of departure.
The inherent
vice of capitalism is the unequal sharing of blessings; the inherent virtue of
socialism is the equal sharing of miseries.
The length of
this document defends it well against the risk of its being read.
The pessimist
sees difficulty in every opportunity. The optimist sees the opportunity in every
difficulty.
The power of an
air force is terrific when there is nothing to oppose it.
The power of
man has grown in every sphere, except over himself.
The price of
greatness is responsibility.
The problems of
victory are more agreeable than the problems of defeat, but they are no less
difficult.
The problems of
victory are more agreeable than those of defeat, but they are no less difficult.
The reserve of
modern assertions is sometimes pushed to extremes, in which the fear of being
contradicted leads the writer to strip himself of almost all sense and meaning.
The short words
are best, and the old words are the best of all.
The truth is
incontrovertible, malice may attack it, ignorance may deride it, but in the end;
there it is.
There are a
terrible lot of lies going about the world, and the worst of it is that half of
them are true.
There are two
things that are more difficult than making an after-dinner speech: climbing a
wall which is leaning toward you and kissing a girl who is leaning away from
you.
There is no
such thing as a good tax.
There is no
such thing as public opinion. There is only published opinion.
There is
nothing more exhilarating than to be shot at without result.
These are not
dark days: these are great days - the greatest days our country has ever lived.
This is no time
for ease and comfort. It is time to dare and endure.
This report, by
its very length, defends itself against the risk of being read.
Those who can
win a war well can rarely make a good peace and those who could make a good
peace would never have won the war.
To build may
have to be the slow and laborious task of years. To destroy can be the
thoughtless act of a single day.
To improve is
to change; to be perfect is to change often.
To jaw-jaw is
always better than to war-war.
Too often the
strong, silent man is silent only because he does not know what to say, and is
reputed strong only because he has remained silent.
True genius
resides in the capacity for evaluation of uncertain, hazardous, and conflicting
information.
Victory at all
costs, victory in spite of all terror, victory however long and hard the road
may be; for without victory, there is no survival.
War is a game
that is played with a smile. If you can't smile, grin. If you can't grin, keep
out of the way till you can.
War is mainly a
catalogue of blunders.
We are all
worms. But I believe that I am a glow-worm.
We are asking
the nations of Europe between whom rivers of blood have flowed to forget the
feuds of a thousand years.
We are masters
of the unsaid words, but slaves of those we let slip out.
We are stripped
bare by the curse of plenty.
We do not covet
anything from any nation except their respect.
We have always
found the Irish a bit odd. They refuse to be English.
We make a
living by what we get, but we make a life by what we give.
We occasionally
stumble over the truth but most of us pick ourselves up and hurry off as if
nothing had happened.
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.
We shall draw
from the heart of suffering itself the means of inspiration and survival.
We shall show
mercy, but we shall not ask for it.
We shape our
buildings; thereafter they shape us.
We shape our
dwellings, and afterwards our dwellings shape us.
When I am
abroad, I always make it a rule never to criticize or attack the
government of my own country. I make up for lost time when I come home.
When the war of
the giants is over the wars of the pygmies will begin.
When you are
winning a war almost everything that happens can be claimed to be right and
wise.
When you have
to kill a man, it costs nothing to be polite.
Without
tradition, art is a flock of sheep without a shepherd. Without innovation, it is
a corpse.
You can always
count on Americans to do the right thing - after they've tried everything else.
You have
enemies? Good. That means you've stood up for something, sometime in your life.