Quotessence
Home / Authors / Winston Churchill
Winston Churchill

Winston Churchill Quotes

Former Prime Minister of the United Kingdom

Filter quotes by topic

AllWarMenIfsWorldMayPeoplePoliticsMilitaryShouldInspirationalPoliticalGivingHas BeensWar Of The WorldsFirstsYearsNationsHumorousLeadershipLong

Famous Winston Churchill Quotes

“Thus, then, on the night of the tenth of May, at the outset of this mighty battle, I acquired the chief power in the State, which henceforth I wielded in ever-growing measure for five years and three months of world war, at the end of which time, all our enemies having surrendered unconditionally or being about to do so, I was immediately dismissed by the British electorate from all further conduct of their affairs.”

WorldYearsMayWarEndsStatesNightTimeThreeEnemyFiveGrowingMonthsBattleAffairBritishChiefsWar Of The WorldsFive YearsThree MonthsElectorate
Author:Winston Churchill
Create image

“I was very glad that Mr. Attlee described my speeches in the war as expressing the will not only of Parliament but of the whole nation. Their will was resolute and remorseless and, as it proved, unconquerable. It fell to me to express it, and if I found the right words you must remember that I have always earned my living by my pen and by my tongue. It was a nation and race dwelling all round the globe that had the lion heart. I had the luck to be called upon to give the roar.”

IfsGivingHeartWarWholeRememberFoundNationsRaceSpeechLuckRoundsTongueGladPensLionsGlobesParliamentDwellingResoluteRight WordsUnconquerableRemorseless
Author:Winston Churchill
Create image

“Nothing is more dangerous in wartime than to live in the temperamental atmosphere of a Gallup Poll, always feeling ones pulse and taking ones temperature. I see that a speaker at the week-end said that this was a time when leaders should keep their ears to the ground. All I can say is that the British nation will find it very hard to look up to leaders who are detected in that somewhat ungainly posture.”

ShouldLooksSaidI CanWarEndsHardFeelingsNationsLeaderWeekDangerousEarsBritishAtmosphereLook UpSpeakersPollsTemperaturePulsePostureWartimeWeek End
Book:The Churchill War Papers: The Ever-Widening War 1941
Create image

“The gratitude of every home in our Island, in our Empire, and indeed throughout the world, except in the abodes of the guilty, goes out to the British airmen who, undaunted by odds, unwearied in their constant challenge and mortal danger, are turning the tide of the World War by their prowess and by their devotion. Never in the field of human conflict was so much owed by so many to so few.”

WorldHumansWarHomeChallengesDangerFieldsGratitudeConflictConstantBritishDevotionGuiltyMortalsIslandsWar Of The WorldsEmpiresTidesOddsAbodeProwessHouse Of CommonsAirmenUndaunted
Author:Winston Churchill
Create image

“History's villains are more easily recognized in retrospect. In an article published in 1935 and reprinted in 1937, Winston Churchill expressed a curious ambivalence towards the German chancellor prior to the outbreak of war: We cannot tell whether Hitler will be the man who will once again let loose upon the world another war in which civilization will irretrievably succumb, or whether he will go down in history as the man who restored honour and peace of mind to the great Germanic nation. . . .”

MenWorldMindWarNationsHe ManCivilizationHistoricalCuriousPeace Of MindHonourArticlesVillainRetrospectAmbivalenceOutbreaks
Author:Winston Churchill
Create image

“May it not also be that the cause of civilization itself will be defended by the skill and devotion of a few thousand airmen? There never has been, I suppose, in all the world, in all the history of war, such an opportunity for youth. The Knights of the Round Table, the Crusaders, all fall back into the past.”

WorldMayHas BeensWarPastFallOpportunityCausesYouthCivilizationThousandSkillsTablesRoundsDevotionAviationKnightsFall BackAir PowerAirpowerAirmen
Book:Great destiny: sixty years of the memorable events in the life of the man of the century recounted in his own incomparable words
Create image

“The Navy can lose us the war, but only the Air Force can win it. Therefore our supreme effort must be to gain overwhelming mastery in the Air. The Fighters are our salvation . . . but the Bombers alone provide the means of victory. . . . In no other way at present visible can we hope to overcome the immense military power of Germany.”

WayMeanWarWinningForceLosesEffortAirMilitaryVictoryGainsOvercomingSalvationSupremeFighterGermanyVisibleAviationOverwhelmingMasteryImmenseNavyAir ForceBombersAir PowerMilitary PowerAirpower
Author:Winston Churchill
Create image

“The air is an extremely dangerous, jealous and exacting mistress. Once under the spell most lovers are faithful to the end, which is not always old age. Even those masters and princes of aerial fighting, the survivors of fifty mortal duels in the high air who have come scatheless through the War and all its perils, have returned again and again to their love and perished too often in some ordinary commonplace flight undertaken for pure amusement.”

WarEndsAgeFightingAirDangerousMastersLoversPureOrdinarySafetyOld AgeFlightMortalsFaithfulFiftyAviationSurvivorJealousSpellsAgain And AgainAmusementPerilMistressCommonplace
Book:Churchill on men and events: a selection from
Create image

“Before the war it had seemed incredible that such terrors and slaughters, even if they began, could last more than a few months. After the first two years it was difficult to believe that they would ever end.”

IfsYearsFirstsBelieveTwoWarEndsActionLastsDifficultMonthsIncrediblesTerrorTwo YearsSlaughter
Book:Great destiny: sixty years of the memorable events in the life of the man of the century recounted in his own incomparable words
Create image

“Unless some effective world supergovernment for the purpose of preventing war can be set up ... the prospects for peace and human progress are dark ....If .... it is found possible to build a world organization of irresistible force and inviolable authority for the purpose of securing peace, there are no limits to the blessings which all men enjoy and share.”

IfsMenWorldHumansWarLawPurposeFoundForceEnjoyDarkProgressShareBlessingLimitsAuthorityOrganizationIrresistiblePreventingProspectsHuman ProgressIrresistible ForcePreventing War
Author:Winston Churchill
Create image

“I have never promised anything but blood, tears, toil and sweat. Now, however we have a new experience. We have a victory - a remarkable and definite victory. The bright gleam has caught the helmets of our soldiers and warmed and cheered all our hearts.”

WorldHeartWarBloodTearsVictorySoldierCaughtWar Of The WorldsRemarkableSweatDefiniteToilWorld War 2HelmetGleamNew Experiences
Book:War Speeches: From June 25, 1941 to September 6, 1943
Create image

“He sees with amazement that our defeats are but the stepping stones to victory and that all his victories are stepping stones to ruin. It was apparent to me that this bad man saw quite clearly the shadow of slowly and remorselessly approaching doom, and he railed at fortune for mocking him with the glitter of fleeting success.”

MenWorldWarSawsVictoryShadowStonesFortuneDefeatRuinsWar Of The WorldsFleetingDoomWorld War 2GlitterAmazementStepping StonesBad Man
Book:Great destiny: sixty years of the memorable events in the life of the man of the century recounted in his own incomparable words
Create image

“"I have not made any arrogant, confident, boasting predictions at all. On the contrary, I have stuck hard to my "blood, toil, tears and sweat," to which I have added muddle and mismanagement, and that, to some extend I must admit, is what you have got out of it."”

WorldMadeWarHardBloodTearsContraryStuckWar Of The WorldsSweatArrogantPredictionsToilBoastWorld War 2MuddleMismanagement
Book:War Speeches: From June 25, 1941 to September 6, 1943
Create image

“My hope is that the generous instincts of unity will not depart from us...[so that we] become the prey of the little folk who exist in every country and who frolic alongside the Juggernaut car of war to see what fun or notoriety they can extract from the proceedings.”

WorldLittlesWarCountryFunCarUnityInstinctFolksGenerousWar Of The WorldsPreyWorld War 2ProceedingNotorietyJuggernaut
Book:Sir Winston Churchill: a self-portrait
Create image

“We sit in calm, airy, silent rooms opening upon sunlit and embowered lawns, not a sound except of summer and of husbandry disturbs the peace; but seven million men, any ten thousand of whom could have annihilated the ancient armies, are in ceaseless battle from the Alps to the Ocean.”

MenWorldWarSoundRoomsMillionsBattleThousandTenOceanSummerArmySilentSevenCalmAncientOpeningWar Of The WorldsLawnsAiryWorld War OneAlps
Book:Sir Winston Churchill: a self-portrait
Create image

“Nobody ever launched an attack without having misgivings beforehand, You ought to have misgivings before; but when the moment of action is come, the hour of misgivings is passed. It is often not possible to go backward from a course which has been adopted in war. A man must answer "Aye" or "No" to the great questions which are put, and by that decision he must be bound.”

MenHas BeensWarMomentsActionCoursesHoursLeadershipDecisionAnswersOughtBoundsAdoptedMisgivings
Book:Churchill speaks: Winston S. Churchill in peace and war : collected speeches, 1897-1963
Create image

“This truth may be unfashionable, unpalatable, no doubt unpopular, but, if it is the truth, the story of mankind shows that war was universal and unceasing for millions of years before armaments were invented or armies organized. Indeed, the lucid intervals of peace and order only occurred in human history after armaments in the hands of strong governments have come into being, and civilization in every age has been nursed only in cradles guarded by superior weapons and superior discipline.”

IfsYearsHumansMayHas BeensWarStoriesShowsHandsGovernmentAgeOrderStrongMillionsDoubtMankindDisciplineCivilizationWeaponsUniversalArmySuperiorsOrganizedNo DoubtHuman HistoryCradleIntervalsGuardedArmamentStrong Government
Author:Winston Churchill
Create image