“Hence, we will not say that Greeks fight like heroes, but that heroes fight like Greeks.”

— Winston S. Churchill

Allegedly said regarding a Greek victory over Italian invaders, but without a documented source.
Disputed

Adopted from Wikiquote. Last update Feb. 12, 2022. History

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Do you have more details about the quote "Hence, we will not say that Greeks fight like heroes, but that heroes fight like Greeks." by Winston S. Churchill?

Winston S. Churchill 601

Prime Minister of the United Kingdom 1874–1965

Cyrus H. Gordon (1908–2001) American linguist

Source: The Common Background of Greek and Hebrew Civilizations (1965 [1962]), Ch.VIII Further Observations on the Bible
Context: Scripture makes it clear that unlike the conceptions of Abraham and of Jacob, Isaac was conceived through divine agency. Like the Mycenaean Greek heroes, Isaac could claim paternity at two levels; the human and the divine.... Normative Judaism has divested itself of this approach to the paternity of heroes, in spite of the tell-tale text in Genesis. Midrash does not hesitate to call Moses half-god and half-man.... The Church tradition that connects the sacrifice of Isaac with the sacrifice of Christ apparently rests on a sound exegesis, for the sacrifice of Isaac would have meant not only the sacrifice of Abraham's son but of God's.

“But Alexander was stressing his link with Achilles… Achilles was also a stirring Greek hero, useful for a Macedonian king whose Greek ancestry did not stop Greeks from calling him a barbarian.”

Robin Lane Fox (1946) Historian, educator, writer, gardener

Source: Alexander the Great, 1973, p.60

“Fighting is like champagne. It goes to the heads of cowards as quickly as of heroes. Any fool can be brave on a battlefield when it's be brave or else be killed.”

Margaret Mitchell book Vom Winde verweht (1937 German edition)

Source: Gone with the Wind

“Kashmiris who came to Pakistan received a hero reception here. We used to train them and support them. We considered them as Mujahideen who will fight with the Indian Army. Then, various terrorist organisations like Lashkar-e-Taiba rose in this period. They (jihadi terrorists) were our heroes.”

Pervez Musharraf (1943) 10th President of Pakistan

... [Osama bin Laden and Jalaluddin Haqqani were] “Pakistani heroes”. “In 1979, we had introduced religious militancy in Afghanistan to benefit Pakistan, and to push the Soviets out of the country. We brought Mujahideen from all over the world, we trained them and supplied weapons to them. We trained the Taliban, sent them in. They were our heroes. Haqqani was our hero. Osama bin Laden was our hero. Ayman al-Zawahiri was our hero. Then the global environment changed. The world started viewing things differently. Our heroes were turned into villains.”…
As Quoted in “Watch: Pervez Musharraf Says ‘Osama bin Laden Was Pakistan’s Hero,'” ANI, November 14, 2019 https://www.ndtv.com/world-news/watch-musharraf-admits-training-kashmiris-as-mujahideen-to-fight-indian-army-2132216

“The true hero fights and dies in the name of his destiny, and not in the name of a belief.”

Emil M. Cioran book A Short History of Decay

Source: A Short History of Decay (1949)

“We deemed the secret lost, the spirit gone,
Which spake in Greek simplicity of thought,
And in the forms of gods and heroes wrought
Eternal beauty from the sculptured stone”

Margaret Fuller (1810–1850) American feminist, poet, author, and activist

A higher charm than modern culture won,
With all the wealth of metaphysic lore,
Gifted to analyze, dissect explore.
Life Without and Life Within (1859), Flaxman

“The Hero cares not for a wild winter's storm. For it carries him swift on the back of the storm. All may be lost and our hearts may be worn, but a Hero fights forever.”

Cressida Cowell (1966) British writer

Source: How to Twist a Dragon's Tale

“Heroes aren't always the ones who win. They're the ones who lose, sometimes. But they keep fighting, they keep coming back. They don't give up. That's what makes them heroes.”

Cassandra Clare book City of Heavenly Fire

Clary Fray, to Emma Carstairs, pg. 95
Variant: Heroes aren't always the ones who win. They're the ones who lose, sometimes. But they keep fighting, they keep coming back. They don't give up. That's what makes them heroes.
Source: The Mortal Instruments, City of Heavenly Fire (2014)

“The practice of perseverance is the discipline of the noblest virtues. To run well, we must run to the end. It is not the fighting but the' conquering that gives a hero his title to renown.”

Elias Lyman Magoon (1810–1886) American minister

Source: Dictionary of Burning Words of Brilliant Writers (1895), P. 450.

“Battles ended with sunset or dusk; so heroes, on special occasions when they needed more time, were vouchsafed victory by the stoppage of the sun in Greek as well as Hebrew saga.”

Cyrus H. Gordon (1908–2001) American linguist

Footnote Iliad 18: 239-242 (cf: 2: 412-18); Joshua 10: 13-14
Source: The Common Background of Greek and Hebrew Civilizations (1965 [1962]), Ch.VIII Further Observations on the Bible

“Hence, we will not say that Greeks fight like heroes, but that heroes fight like Greeks.”

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Winston S. Churchill 601

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