Winston Churchill was a remarkable leader who led the United Kingdom through some of its most difficult times – from World War II to the depths of depression. He had a conviction that enabled him to pull his people out of danger and adversity, making them believe in themselves until victory was assured.
As one of history’s most memorable figures, Winston Churchill has left behind many inspiring quotes that offer valuable advice and lessons for today’s generation. From his stirring wartime speeches to more introspective musings on life and love, here are 61 famous Winston Churchill quotes that show the power and wisdom of this iconic British Prime Minister.
I hope you enjoy these quotes by Winston Churchill…
1) “All the greatest things are simple, and many can be expressed in a single word: freedom; justice; honor; duty; mercy; hope.”
2) “A lady came up to me one day and said ‘Sir! You are drunk’, to which I replied ‘I am drunk today madam, and tomorrow I shall be sober but you will still be ugly.”
3) “Ambition, not so much for vulgar ends, but for fame, glints in every mind.”
4) “Attitude is a little thing that makes a big difference.”
5) “The best argument against democracy is a five-minute conversation with the average voter.”
6) “Broadly speaking short words are best and the old words when short, are best of all.”
7) “To build may have to be the slow and laborious task of years. To destroy can be the thoughtless act of a single day.”
8) “All I can say is that I have taken more out of alcohol than alcohol has taken out of me.”
9) “Change is the master key. A man can wear out a particular part of his mind by continually using it and tiring it…{and this tired part} can be rested and strengthened, not merely by rest, but by using other parts.”
A season of reflection…
10) “Christmas is a season not only of rejoicing but of reflection.”
11) “This is the company I should like to find in heaven. Stained perhaps, but positive. Not those flaccid sea anemones of virtue who can hardly wiggle an antenna in the turgid waters of negativity.”
12) “The counsels of prudence and restraint may become the prime agents of mortal danger.”
13) “Courage is what it takes to stand up and speak; courage is also what it takes to sit down and listen.”
14) “Danger gathers upon our path. We cannot afford – we have no right – to look back. We must look forward.”
15) “Difficulties mastered are opportunities won.”
16) “Everyone has his day, and some days last longer than others.”
17) “A fanatic is one who can’t change his mind and won’t change the subject.”
18) “The farther backward you can look, the farther forward you are likely to see.”
19) “Never give in. Never give in. Never, never, never, never—in nothing, great or small, large or petty – never give in, except to convictions of honour and good sense. Never yield to force. Never yield to the apparently overwhelming might of the enemy.”
Winston Churchill Quotes on Education
20) “It is a good thing for an uneducated man to read books of quotations.”
21) “Harsh laws are at times better than no laws at all.”
22) “History will be kind to me for I intend to write it.”
23) “Never hold discussions with the monkey when the organ grinder is in the room.”
24) “Honors should go where death and danger go.”
25) “I am fond of pigs. Dogs look up to us. Cats look down on us. Pigs treat us as equals.”
26) “If you’re going through hell, keep going.”
27) “To improve is to change, so to be perfect is to change often.”
28) “Nothing in life is so exhilarating as to be shot at without result.”
29) “Success is not final, failure is not fatal, it is the courage to continue that counts.”
30) “It is not in our power to anticipate our destiny.”
31) “Kites rise highest against the wind, not with it.”
32) “Let it not be thought that the age of chivalry belongs to the past.”
33) “We make a living by what we get, but we make a life by what we give.”
34) “Men occasionally stumble over the truth, but most of them pick themselves up and hurry off as if nothing had happened.”
35) “My most brilliant achievement was my ability to be able to persuade my wife to marry me.”
36) “My tastes are simple: I am easily satisfied with the best.”
37) “Never, never, never give up.”
38) “No one is compelled to serve great causes unless he feels fit for it, but nothing is more certain than you cannot take the lead in great causes as a half-timer.”
39) “It is not enough that we do our best; sometimes we must do what is required.”
Interesting Quotes by Winston Churchill
40) “Nothing in life is so exhilarating as to be shot at without result.”
41) “Now this is not the end. It is not even the beginning of the end. But it is, perhaps, the end of the beginning.”
42) “One ought never to turn one’s back on a threatened danger and try to run away from it. If you do that, you will double the danger. But if you meet it promptly and without flinching, you will reduce the danger by half.”
43) “It is the people who control the Government – not the Government the people.”
44) “Personally I’m always ready to learn, although I do not always like being taught.”
45) “Politics is the ability to foretell what is going to happen tomorrow, next week, next month, and next year. And to have the ability afterwards to explain why it didn’t happen.”
46) “The price of greatness is responsibility.”
47) “Courage is rightly esteemed the first of human qualities because it has been said, it is the quality which guarantees all others.”
48) “We seem to be very near the bleak choice between War and Shame. My feeling is that we shall choose Shame, and then have War thrown in a little later on even more adverse terms than at present.”
49) “Study history, study history – in history lie all the secrets of statecraft.”
Winston Churchill Quotes about Success
50) “Success consists of going from failure to failure without loss of enthusiasm.”
51) “Tact is the ability to tell someone to go to hell in such a way that they look forward to the trip.”
52) “There are a terrible lot of lies going about the world, and the worst of it is that half of them are true.”
53) “If this long island story of ours is to end at last, let it end only when each one of us lies choking in his own blood upon the ground.”
54) “Time and money are largely interchangeable terms.”
55) “To improve is to change; to be perfect is to change often.”
56) “Twenty to twenty-five! These are the years! Don’t be content with things as they are.”
57) “Vengeance is the most costly and dissipating of luxuries.”
58) “We are all worms, but I do believe I am a glow-worm.”
59) “When the eagles are silent, the parrots begin to jabber.”
Worry about inaction…
60) “I never worry about action, but only about inaction.”
61) “You have enemies? Good. That means you’ve stood up for something, sometime in your life.”
Please share these quotes by Winston Churchill with your friends and family.
