Winston Churchill Quotes

I have benefited greatly from criticism, and at no time have I suffered a lack thereof.

Never trust a man who has not a single redeeming vice.

In finance everything that is agreeable is unsound and everything that is sound is disagreeable.

A medal glitters, but it also casts a shadow.

If you want a good argument against democracy, spend five minutes with a voter.

It is always more easy to discover and proclaim general principles than it is to apply them.

The United States invariably does the right thing, after having exhausted every other alternative.

Nature will not be admired by proxy.

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

Everyone threw the blame on me ... they nearly always do. I suppose ... they think I shall be able to bear it best.

I'm just preparing my impromptu remarks.

Before Alamein we never had a victory. After Alamein we never had a defeat.

The painter wanders and loiters contentedly from place to place, always on the lookout for some brilliant butterfly of a picture which can be caught and carried safely home.

It is wonderful how well men can keep secrets they have not been told.

Free speech carries with it the evil of all foolish, unpleasant venomous things that are said but, on the whole, we would rather lump them than do away with them.

It is better to be making the news than taking it, to be an actor rather than a critic.

The statesman who yields to war fever must realise that once the signal is given, he is no longer the master of policy but the slave of unforeseeable and uncontrollable events.

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.

Let the children have their night of fun and laughter, let the gifts of Father Christmas delight their play. Let us grown-ups share to the full in their unstinted pleasures.

It may well be that we shall by a process of sublime irony have reached a state in this story where safety will be the sturdy child of terror, and survival the twin brother of annihilation.

Science burrows its insulted head in the filth of slaughterous inventions.

My hand seemed arrested by a silent veto.

Just to paint is great fun. The colours are lovely to look at and delicious to squeeze out. Matching them, however crudely, with what you see is fascinating and absolutely absorbing.

Every garden presents innumerable fascinating problems.

In Critical and baffling situations, it is always best to return to first principle and simple action

[Should Britain fail, then the entire world would] sink into the abyss of a new dark age made more sinister ... by the lights of perverted science.

We must beware of trying to build a society in which nobody counts for anything except a politician or an official, a society where enterprise gains no reward and thrift no privileges

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

Working hours are never long enough. Each day is a holiday, and ordinary holidays are grudged as enforced interruptions in an absorbing vocation.

The substitution of the internal combustion engine for the horse marked a very gloomy milestone in the progress of mankind.

I have always had a curious nature; I enjoy learning, but I dislike being taught.

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.

The maxim, "Nothing prevails but perfection," may be spelled PARALYSIS.

And what a plan! This vast operation is undoubtedly the most complicated and difficult that has ever occurred.

Writing a book is an adventure.

In handing over the Government of India to these so-called political classes, we are handing over to men of straw, of whom, in a few years, no trace will remain.

It is a great mistake to suppose that thrift is caused only by fear; it springs from hope as well as from fear; where there is no hope, be sure there will be no thrift.

The United States stands at the pinnacle of world power. This is a solemn moment for the American democracy. For with primacy in power is joined an awe-inspiring accountability for the future.

I was born under the Blue Ridge, and under that side which is blue in the evening light, in a wild land of game and forest and rushing waters.

Air superiority is the ultimate expression of military power.

A small lie needs a bodyguard of bigger lies to protect it.

We have no lasting friends, no lasting enemies, only lasting interests.

The chief aim of wisdom is to enable one to bear with the stupidity of the ignorant.

Failure should never go to heart and success should never go to head, both makes a person to fall in life.

The belief that security can be obtained by throwing a small state to the wolves is a fatal delusion.

The world, nature, human beings, do not move like machines. The edges are never clear-cut, but always frayed. Nature never draws a line without smudging it.

Do you know why the nose of the bull dog is sloped backwards? So it can keep on breathing without ever letting go.

There is something going on in time and space, and beyond time and space, which, whether we like it or not, spells duty.

I want no criticism of America at my table. The Americans criticize themselves more than enough.

Those whose work and pleasure are one... are... Fortune's favoured children.