Winston Churchill

There must be what Mr. Gladstone many years ago called a blessed act of oblivion. We must all turn our backs upon the horrors of the past. We must look to the future. We cannot afford to drag forward across the years that are to come the hatreds and revenges which have sprung from the injuries of the past.

When the eagles are silent the parrots begin to jabber.

I would say to the House, as I said to those who have joined this Government: I have nothing to offer but blood, toil, tears and sweat. You ask, what is our aim? I can answer in one word: It is victory, 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.

The substance of the eminent Socialist gentlemen’s speech is that making a profit is a sin. It is my belief that the real sin is taking a loss!

He is a modest little man who has a good deal to be modest about.

If you are going through hell, keep going.

Principles aren’t of much account anyway, except at election time. After that you hang them up to let them season.

I believe in things that are developed through hard work. I always like people who have developed long and hard, especially through introspection and a lot of dedication. I think what they arrive at is usually a much deeper and more beautiful thing than the person who seems to have that ability and fluidity from the beginning. I say this because it’s a good message to give to young talents who feel as I used to.

The wonder is always new that any sane man can be a sailor.

When speculation has done its worst, two and two still make four.

Is not a patron, my lord, one who looks with unconcern on a man struggling for life in the water, and, when he has reached ground, encumbers him with help? The notice which you have been pleased to take of my labors, had it been early, had been kind; but it has been delayed till I am indifferent, and cannot enjoy it; till I am solitary, and cannot impart it; till I am known, and do not want it.

Pasteboard pies and paper flowers are being banished from the stage by the growth of that power of accurate observation which is commonly called cynicism by those who have not got it….

Better to keep your mouth shut and appear stupid than to open it and remove all doubt.

Classic art was the art of necessity: modern romantic art bears the stamp of caprice and chance.

The public is a ferocious beast; one must either chain it or flee from it.

The way to do well is to do well.

In childhood be modest, in youth temperate, in adulthood just, and in old age prudent.

As the Sandwich Islander believes that the strength and valor of the enemy he kills passes into himself, so we gain the strength of the temptation we resist.

The moment we want to believe something, we suddenly see all the arguments for it, and become blind to the arguments against it.

Our most important task is to transform our consciousness so that violence is no longer an option for us in our personal lives, that understanding that a world of peace is possible only if we relate to each other as peaceful beings, one individual at a time.

Language is a city to the building of which every human being brought a stone.