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Winston Churchill and 9/11
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Since the terrible events of September 11th, many people, all over the world, have been turning to Winston Churchill's words for hope and guidance as events unfold: to explain actions, to point to the future, and above all to express themselves with Winston Churchill's inimitable help. Mayor Guiliani has been described as "Winston Churchill in a Yankees Cap", Prime Minister Blair's entourage has used Churchill as an example, and President Bush, who has a bust of him in the Oval Office, has taken on a distinctly Churchillian ring in his speeches.
Churchill is in a unique position to provide this help: being half American and half-British, he was a living link to the two countries that are once again standing together for freedom. He was perhaps the greatest war leader Britain has ever seen, and his words are as appropriate and inspiring now as then.
I don't pretend that the following selection of quotes is in any way representative, let alone exhaustive. Most of Churchill's writings and speeches contain courageous and wise sentiments, but the selection below are some of the ones that people have found of use. If you think of any that should be added, please let me know.
You may also be interested to read this speech from the Churchill Centre, on this theme.
"... the United States, united as never before, have drawn the sword for freedom and cast away the scabbard."
-Speech, 26th December, 1941
"Not so easily shall the lights of freedom die".
-Broadcast to the US, 16th June, 1941
- "Never in the field of human conflict is so much owed by so many to so few..."
- a deliberate alteration of Churchill's famous 1940 phrase, referring to the work of the Global Coalition against Terrorism, suggested by a visitor to this site.
"Silly
people -- and there were many, not only in enemy countries -- might
discount the force of the United States.
Some said they were soft, others that they would never be united.
They would fool around at a distance.
They would never come to grips.
They would never stand blood-letting.
Their democracy and system of recurrent elections would paralyze
their war effort. They would be just a vague blur on the horizon to friend
or foe. Now we should see the weakness of this numerous but remote,
wealthy, and talkative people. But
I had studied the American Civil War, fought to the last desperate inch.
American blood flowed in my veins.
I thought of a remark which Edward Grey had made to me more than
thirty years before -- that the United States is like "a gigantic
boiler. Once the fire is
lighted under it there is no limit to the power it can generate". Being saturated and satiated with emotion and sensation, I went to
bed and slept the sleep of the saved and thankful."
-"The Second World War", Volume 3, "The Grand Alliance"
"To
build may have to be the slow and laborious task of years. To destroy can
be the thoughtless act of a single day"
- Unknown to me, taken from the 10 Downing Street Website
"We
shall have no truce or parley with you, or the grisly gang who work your
wicked will. You do your worst--and we will do our best. Perhaps it will
be our turn soon. Perhaps it will be our turn now."
- Speech, 14th July 1941. See "The Unrelenting Struggle"
"behind
them lay a shattered fleet hidden in a pall of fire and smoke; and the
vengeance of the United States".
- On Pearl Harbour (possibly from "The Second World War"
"I
do not grudge our loyal, brave people, who were ready to do their duty no
matter what the cost, who never flinched under the strain of last
week...but they should know the truth. They should know that there has
been gross neglect and deficiency in our defences; they should know that
we have sustained a defeat without a war, the consequences of which will
travel far with us along our road; they should know that we have passed an
awful milestone in our history...and that terrible words have for the time
being been pronounced against the Western democracies: 'Thou art weighed
in the balance and found wanting.' And do not suppose that this is the
end. This is only the beginning of the reckoning. This is only the first
sip, the first foretaste of a bitter cup, which will be proffered to us
year by year unless by a supreme recovery of moral health and martial
vigour, we arise again and take our stand for freedom, as in the olden
time."
- Speech on Munich, 5th October 1938
"We
shall hear in succeeding generations a lot of talk about the pacific
virtues we displayed; how we exhausted every expedient; how we flaunted a
magnificent patience; how we never lost our heads or were carried away by
fear or excitement; how we turned the second cheek to the smiter seven
times or more."
- written by Churchill in 1946 or 1947 for Vol 1 of his war memoirs, but not included. Find in Gilbert Companion Vol 5 Part III
"Some
historians will urge that admiration should be given to a Government of
honourable high-minded men who bore provocation with exemplary forbearance
and piled up to their credit all the Christian virtues, especially those
which command electioneering popularity; but who when their patience was
at length worn out by repeated injury and peril turned upon their agressor
with their backs to the wall."
- written by Churchill in 1946 or 1947 for Vol 1 of his war memoirs, but not included. Find in Gilbert Companion Vol 5 Part III
"I
hope it will also be written how hard all this was upon the ordinary
common folk who fill the casuality lists of world wars. Under
representative Government and Parliamentary institutions, they confide
their safety to the Ministers and the Prime Minister of the day. They have
just cause of complaint if their guides or rulers so mismanage their
affairs that in the end they are thrust into the worst of wars with the
worst of chances."
- written by Churchill in 1946 or 1947 for Vol 1 of his war memoirs, but not included. Find in Gilbert Companion Vol 5 Part III
"This
wicked man, the repository and embodiment of many forms of soul-destroying
hatred, this monstrous product of former wrongs and shame, has now
resolved to try to break our famous Island race by a process of
indiscriminate slaughter and destruction.
What he has done is to kindle a fire in British hearts, here and
all over the world, which will glow long after all traces of the
conflagration he has caused in London have been
- Speech, 11th September, 1940
"Let
us learn our lessons. Never,
never, never believe any war will be smooth and easy, or that anyone who
embarks on the strange voyage can measure the tides and hurricanes he will
encounter. The statesman who
yields to war fever must realize that, once the signal is given, he is no
longer the master of policy but the slave of unforeseeable and
uncontrollable events."
- Unknown to me
"
Twice in a single generation the catastrophe of world war has fallen upon
us; twice in our lifetime has the long arm of Fate reached across the
ocean to bring the United States into the forefront of the battle.
If we had kept together after the last war, if we had taken common
measures for our safety, this renewal of the curse need never have fallen
upon us. Do
we not owe it to ourselves, to our children, to mankind tormented, to make
sure that these catastrophes shall not engulf us for the third time? It
has been proved that pestilences may break out in the Old World which
carry their destructive ravages into the New World, from which, once they
are afoot, the New World cannot by any means escape.
Duty and prudence alike command, first, that the germ-centres of
hatred and revenge should be constantly and vigilantly surveyed and
treated in good time, and, secondly, that an adequate organisation should
be set up to make sure that the
- speech to a Joint Session of Congress, Washington, 26th December, 1941
"This is not the end. It is not even the beginning of the end. It is, perhaps, the end of the beginning."
(has been applied in the British media to the fall of the Taliban) - Speech, 1942.
"I refuse to remain impartial between the fire brigade and the fire"
- comment made during the General Strike of 1926, and whilst a good quote, has led to much misunderstanding of WSC's motives during this episode.
If you can think of any apt quotations for this site, please let me know!
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Last Updated: 01 April, 2003