“What then is the moral of Churchill’s life? He was the twentieth century’s great man, but we must sharply circumscribe his greatness. Because he drew the sword from the stone in 1940, what he did before and after seems admirable. Through his steadfast stance, Churchill rallied the English to die with honor—therefore they deserved to win. Whoever shall seek to save his life shall lose it; and whoever shall lose his life shall preserve it (Luke 17:33). Yet were it not for this one courageous triumph, we might now say of him: Never had one man done so little with so much.”
Churchill’s Finest Hour (2009)
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Mark Riebling 39
American writer 1963Related quotes
Quotes from secondary sources, Smooth Stones Taken From Ancient Brooks, 1860
Source: Hilkhot De'ot (Laws Concerning Character Traits), Chapter 2, Section 7, p. 33
Vyasa’s curse to the first widowed wife of his half brother on the son to be born to them. His mother [Satyavati] had asked him to produce heirs to the throne with the two widows of his half-brother. The first princess closed her eyes as Vyasa was in fearful ascetic condition when he slept with her. In due time Dhritarshtra was born blind. Quoted in p. 58.
Sources, Seer of the Fifth Veda: Kr̥ṣṇa Dvaipāyana Vyāsa in the Mahābhārata
“If a man loses his reverence for any part of life, he will lose his reverence for all of life.”
Source: Dictionary of Burning Words of Brilliant Writers (1895), P. 149.
Source: The New Ethics (1907), The Perils of Over-population, pp. 149–150