Broadcast (19 May 1940), quoted in Martin Gilbert, Finest Hour: Winston S. Churchill, 1939–1941 (London: Heinemann, 1983), p. 364
The Second World War (1939–1945)
Winston S. Churchill Quotes
On the last years of Rome and Roman Britain; Vol I; The Birth of Britain.
A History of the English-Speaking Peoples (1956–58)
Churchill's account of his conversation with President Truman (18 July 1945), quoted in Lord Moran, Winston Churchill: The Struggle for Survival, 1940-1965 (London: Sphere, 1968), p. 298
The Second World War (1939–1945)
BBC broadcast (“The Russian Enigma”), London, October 1, 1939 ( First Month of War (excerpt) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B-Et45bs95I, transcript of the full text https://ww2memories.wordpress.com/2011/09/24/churchills-ww2-speech-to-the-nation-october-1939/).
The Second World War (1939–1945)
Broadcast (7 February 1952) upon the accession of Elizabeth II, quoted in Winston Churchill, Stemming the Tide: Speeches 1951 and 1952 (London: Cassell & Co, 1953), p. 240
Post-war years (1945–1955)
Source: My Early Life: A Roving Commission (1930), Chapter 3 (Examinations), p. 27.
The World Crisis, 1911–1914 : Chapter XVII (The Grand Fleet and the Submarine Alarm), Churchill, Butterworth (1923), p. 399.
Early career years (1898–1929)
“We do not covet anything from any nation except their respect.”
Radio broadcast http://books.google.com/books?id=_YBkWL9XBfcC&q=%22We+do+not+covet+anything+from+any+nation+except+their+respect%22&pg=PA403#v=onepage to German occupied, Vichy, and Free France (21 October 1940)
The Second World War (1939–1945)
“I decline utterly to be impartial as between the fire brigade and the fire.”
Speech in the House of Commons, July 7, 1926 "Emergency Services" http://hansard.millbanksystems.com/commons/1926/jul/07/emergency-services#column_2216, responding to criticism that he edited the British Gazette in a biased manner during the General Strike, as cited in The Yale Book of Quotations (2006), ed. Fred R. Shapiro, Yale University Press, p. 152 ISBN 0300107986
Early career years (1898–1929)
Today's Battles. Collier's, 7 October 1939.
Reproduced in The Collected Essays of Sir Winston Churchill, Vol I, Churchill at War, Centenary Edition (1976), Library of Imperial History, p. 487. ISBN 0903988429
The Second World War (1939–1945)
The World Crisis, The Aftermath : Chapter XX (The End of the World Crisis), Churchill, Butterworth (1929), p. 457.
Early career years (1898–1929)
Referring to Mahatma Gandhi in conversation with Edwin Montagu, Secretary of State for India, 1921.
Early career years (1898–1929)
Source: Barczewsk, Stephanie, John Eglin, Stephen Heathorn, Michael Silvestri, and Michelle Tusan. Britain Since 1688: A Nation in the World, p. 301
Source: Toye, Richard. Churchill's Empire: The World That Made Him and the World He Made, p. 172
Speech in Woodford (12 October 1951), quoted in The Times (13 October 1951), p. 9
Post-war years (1945–1955)
Magna Carta and Man’s Quest for Freedom, JW.org http://wol.jw.org/en/wol/d/r1/lp-e/102002924?q=Churchill&p=par
Post-war years (1945–1955)
Speech https://api.parliament.uk/historic-hansard/commons/1934/jul/13/foreign-office#column_734 in the House of Commons (13 July 1934)
The 1930s
On the Viking Long Ships, Vol I; The Birth of Britain.
A History of the English-Speaking Peoples (1956–58)
Source: My Early Life: A Roving Commission (1930), Chapter 9 (Education At Bangalore).
To End War, Collier's, 29 June 1935
Reproduced in The Collected Essays of Sir Winston Churchill, Vol I, Churchill at War, Centenary Edition (1976), Library of Imperial History, p. 351-2. ISBN 0903988429
The 1930s
BBC broadcast (16 November 1934) on German rearmament, quoted in Martin Gilbert, Prophet of Truth: Winston S. Churchill, 1922–1939 (London: Minerva, 1990), p. 566
The 1930s
Speech in Cannon Street Hotel, London (12 December 1930) at the first public meeting of the Indian Empire Society, quoted in Martin Gilbert, Prophet of Truth: Winston S. Churchill, 1922–1939 (London: Minerva, 1990), p. 377
The 1930s
A History of the English-Speaking Peoples (1956–58)
To Sir Ian Gilmour on Commonwealth immigration to England in 1955, quoted in Ian Gilmour, Inside Right (Hutchinson, 1977), p. 134
Post-war years (1945–1955)
Interview https://www.newstatesman.com/politics/2015/01/winston-churchill-new-statesman-archive with Kingsley Martin for the New Statesman (7 January 1939)
The 1930s
The People's Rights [1909] (London: Jonathan Cape, 1970), p. 137
Early career years (1898–1929)
“Mr. Gladstone read Homer for fun, which I thought served him right.”
Source: My Early Life: A Roving Commission (1930), Chapter 2 (Harrow).
Speech at Huddersfield Town Hall (15 October 1951), quoted in Winston Churchill, Stemming the Tide: Speeches 1951 and 1952 (London: Cassell & Co, 1953), p. 149
Post-war years (1945–1955)
“The fascists of the future will be called anti-fascists.”
According to research, it has been attributed to Churchill since the 21st century. A similar variation has been attributed to Huey Long a year after he expired, but it’s unclear if he said it either. Source: http://quoteinvestigator.com/2017/03/04/anti-fascism/ Source: http://paleofuture.gizmodo.com/9-quotes-from-winston-churchill-that-are-totally-fake-1790585636 Variants: The Fascists of the future will be the anti-fascists. The Swiss author François Bondy attributed a similar quote to Ignazio Silone: This reminded me of what Ignazio Silone said in 1945 soon after he returned to Italy from his Zurich exile: "The Fascism of tomorrow will never say 'I am Fascism.' It will say: 'I am anti-Fascism.'" Alternatively quoted as: When I met him in Geneva on the day of his scheduled return home after the long exile in Switzerland, Silone said abruptly: "If at a future moment fascism will return, it will not be so stupid as to say: 'I am fascism.' It will say: 'I am antifascism.'" Source: François Bondy (1976), "European Notebook", Encounter, vol. 47, p. 51. Source: François Bondy (1979), "Ignazio Silone: In Memoriam", The Washington Quarterly, vol. 2, issue 2.
Source: http://quoteinvestigator.com/2017/03/04/anti-fascism/
Source: http://paleofuture.gizmodo.com/9-quotes-from-winston-churchill-that-are-totally-fake-1790585636
Misattributed
In the House of Commons, February 22, 1906 "King’s Speech (Motion for an Address)" http://hansard.millbanksystems.com/commons/1906/feb/22/kings-speech-motion-for-an-address#column_555, as Under-Secretary of the Colonial Office, repeating what he had said during the 1906 election campaign. This is the original context for terminological inexactitude, used simply literally, whereas later the term took on the sense of a euphemism or circumlocution for a lie. As quoted in Sayings of the Century (1984) by Nigel Rees.
Early career years (1898–1929)
An exchange (March 4, 1946) with Harry S. Truman aboard the Presidential train in Washington, D.C.'s Union Station before journeying to Fulton, Missouri; as quoted in "The Genius and Wit of Winston Churchill" http://www.winstonchurchill.org/i4a/pages/index.cfm?pageid=825 by Robin Lawson.
Post-war years (1945–1955)
Letter to The Times on 12 May 1936, responding to Lord Cecil equally denouncing Italy, France, Japan, the USSR, and Germany; Churchill said that the French did not deserve as much criticism as the others. Quoted by John Gunther in Inside Europe (1940), p. 329.
The 1930s
Some chicken! Some neck!
Reference to the French government; speech before Joint Session of the Canadian Parliament, Ottawa http://listenonrepeat.com/watch/?v=TJrQuKlktv8#Winston_Churchill__Some_Chicken%2C_Some_Neck_ (December 30, 1941)
The Yale Book of Quotations, ed. Fred R. Shapiro, Yale University Press (2006), p. 153 ISBN 0300107986
The Second World War (1939–1945)
“A sheep in sheep's clothing.”
On Ramsay MacDonald. This is often taken as referring to Clement Attlee, but Scottish historian D. W. Brogan is cited in Safire’s Political Dictionary (2008), William Safire, Oxford University Press US, p. 352 ISBN 0195343344 as follows: ‘Sir Winston Churchill never said of Clement Attlee that he was a sheep in sheep’s clothing. I have this on the excellent authority of Sir Winston himself. The phrase was totally inapplicable to Mr. Attlee. It was applicable, and applied, to J. Ramsay MacDonald, a very different kind of Labour leader.’
Early career years (1898–1929)
The People's Rights [1909] (London: Jonathan Cape, 1970), pp. 133-134
Early career years (1898–1929)
Letter to Lord Londonderry (23 October 1937), quoted in Martin Gilbert, Prophet of Truth: Winston S. Churchill, 1922–1939 (London: Minerva, 1990), p. 873
The 1930s
This Age of Government by Great Dictators, News of the World, 10 October 1937
Reproduced in The Collected Essays of Sir Winston Churchill, Vol IV, Churchill at Large, Centenary Edition (1976), Library of Imperial History, p. 395. ISBN 0903988453
The 1930s
"Armistice - or Peace?", published in The Evening Standard (11 November 1937).
The 1930s
“The object of Parliament is to substitute argument for fisticuffs.”
Speech in the House of Commons (June 6, 1951) ; in Churchill by Himself (2008), ed. Langworth, PublicAffairs, p. 22 ISBN 1586486381
Post-war years (1945–1955)
Speech in the House of Commons (January 23, 1948), cited in The Yale Book of Quotations (2006), Fred R. Shapiro, Yale University Press, p. 154 ISBN 0300107986
This quote may be the basis for a statement often attributed to Churchill : History will be kind to me. For I intend to write it.
Post-war years (1945–1955)
Speech in the House of Commons, July 8, 1920 "Amritsar" http://lachlan.bluehaze.com.au/churchill/am-text.htm ; at the time, Churchill was serving as Secretary of State for War under Prime Minister David Lloyd George
Early career years (1898–1929)
Churchill's bodyguard Ronald Golding claims that he witnessed Churchill say this in 1946 to Labour MP w:Bessie Braddock. Golding's claim, made to Churchill expert Richard Langworth, was reported in Langworth's collection Churchill by himself https://books.google.com/books?id=vbsU21fEhLAC&q=braddock#v=snippet&q=braddock&f=false. Langworth adds that Churchill's daughter Lady Soames doubted the story.
The basic idea of this joke was published as early as 1882, although it was used to ridicule the critic's foolishness rather than ugliness: " ... are you Mr. —-, the greatest fool in the House of Commons?" "You are drunk," exclaimed the M.P. "Even if I am,” replied the man, "I have the advantage over you – I shall be sober to-morrow, whereas you will remain the fool you are to-day." (1882 August 05, The Daily Republican-Sentinel, His Advantage, p. 5, col. 2, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, cited by Quote Investigator http://quoteinvestigator.com/2011/08/17/sober-tomorrow/).
Reported as false by George Thayer, The Washington Post (April 27, 1971), p. B6.
Often given in a shorter form, e.g " Winston, you are drunk." "Indeed, Madam, and you are ugly—but tomorrow I'll be sober."
Churchill's interlocutor may be given as Lady Astor rather than Braddock.
Disputed
Speech in Toronto (16 August 1929), quoted in Martin Gilbert, The Churchill Documents, Volume 12: The Wilderness Years, 1929–1935 (Michigan: Hillsdale Press, 2012), p. 51
Early career years (1898–1929)
“Every morn brought forth a noble chance, and every chance brought forth a noble knight.”
Speech in the House of Commons, June 4, 1940; passage praising the airmen of the Royal Air Force and their efforts during the evacuation of Dunkirk. This is a close paraphrase of Tennyson:
When every morning brought a noble chance,
And every chance brought out a noble knight.
Alfred Tennyson, "Morte d'Arthur" http://home.att.net/~TennysonPoetry/mort.htm, stanza 23 (1842), and the expanded "The Passing of Arthur", stanza 36 in Idylls of the King (1856–1885)
The Second World War (1939–1945)
This is not by Churchill, but a paraphrase of Churchill quoting Arthur James Balfour in Great Contemporaries (1937): 'there were some things that were true, and some things that were trite; but what was true was trite, and what was not trite was not true' .
Misattributed
“To jaw-jaw is always better than to war-war.”
Remarks at a White House luncheon (26 June 1954)
Quoted in Churchill Urges Patience in Coping with Red Dangers, The New York Times, June 27, 1954 http://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=F00A10FE3458117A93C5AB178DD85F408585F9,
Has been falsely attributed to Otto von Bismarck.
But Churchill’s official biographer, Sir Martin Gilbert, speaking of this quote, noted that Churchill actually said, "Meeting jaw to jaw is better than war." Four years later, during a visit to Australia, Harold Macmillan said the words usually—and wrongly—attributed to Churchill: “Jaw, jaw is better than war, war.” Credit: Harold Macmillan.
Post-war years (1945–1955)
Source: https://winstonchurchill.org/resources/quotes/quotes-falsely-attributed/
The Second World War (1939–1945)
Source: To Stanisław Mikołajczyk in Moscow, October 14, 1944. Quoted in Churchill, Hitler, and the Unnecessary War (2008) by Patrick J Buchanan, p. 380.
The World Crisis, 1911–1914 : Chapter IX (The Crisis), Churchill, Butterworth (1923), pp. 212-213.
Early career years (1898–1929)
Have You a Hobby?, Answers, 21 April 1934
Reproduced in The Collected Essays of Sir Winston Churchill, Vol IV, Churchill at Large, Centenary Edition (1976), Library of Imperial History, p. 288. ISBN 0903988453
The 1930s
Speech at the Savoy Hotel, London (11 June 1952), quoted in Winston Churchill, Stemming the Tide: Speeches 1951 and 1952 (London: Cassell & Co, 1953), pp. 298-299
Post-war years (1945–1955)
“Take away that pudding – it has no theme.”
As cited in Oxford Dictionary of Quotations by Subject (2010), ed. Susan Ratcliffe, Oxford University Press, p. 193 : ISBN 0199567069 ; reported in The Way the Wind Blows (1976), Lord Home, Quadrangle, p. 217.
Post-war years (1945–1955)
Ending of the Speech to a joint session of the United States Congress, Washington, D.C. (26 December 1941); reported in Winston S. Churchill: His Complete Speeches, 1897–1963, ed. Robert Rhodes James (1974), vol. 6, p. 6541. The Congressional Record reports that this speech was followed by "Prolonged applause, the Members of the Senate and their guests rising"; Congressional Record, vol. 87, p. 10119.
The Second World War (1939–1945)