“Now begin in the middle, and later learn the beginning; the end will take care of itself.”

Last update June 3, 2021. History

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Harlan Ellison79

American writer 1934–2018

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General sources
Context: “My dear,
It’s who first thought the thought. You’re searching, Joe,
For things that don’t exist; I mean beginnings.
Ends and beginnings—there are no such things.
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“Now this is not the end. It is not even the beginning of the end. But it is, perhaps, the end of the beginning.”

Winston S. Churchill (1874–1965) Prime Minister of the United Kingdom

speech at Lord Mayor’s Luncheon, Mansion House, London, November 10, 1942 : ( partial text http://www.churchill-society-london.org.uk/EndoBegn.html) <br class="br">Referring to the British victory over the German Afrika Korps at the Second Battle of El Alamein in Egypt. <br class="br">The Second World War (1939–1945) <br class="br">Variant: This is not the end, this is not even the beginning of the end, this is just perhaps the end of the beginning. <br class="br">Source: Their Finest Hour