Winston Churchill

The atomic bomb dropped on Nagasaki, "Fat Man", was christened by US Gen. Leslie Groves with Churchill in mind. The Hiroshima bomb, "Little Boy", was originally called "Thin Man", in honor of Franklin D. Roosevelt.

He is buried in a modest churchyard in Bladon, not far from his birthplace at Blenheim Palace. Chartwell, his country house, is open to the public. Much of his painting was done there.

The first American combat ship named after a foreigner, the guided-missile cruiser USS Winston S. Churchill, was launched on 17 April 1999.

In 1963, by Act of Congress, he was granted honorary US citizenship, the first recipient since Lafayette. He was too infirm to travel to Washington, DC, to receive the honor in person, which was collected by his son and grandson.

He was created a Knight of the Most Noble Order of Garter on 24 April 1953. The award was not made in any of the usual Honours Lists. Both he and his Foreign Secretary Sir Anthony Eden had declined this honor in 1945, feeling it inappropriate following the landslide General Election defeat.

Credited with this exchange with Bessie Braddock : "Winston, you are drunk, and whats more, you are disgustingly drunk"; "Bessie, my dear, you are ugly, and whats more, you are disgustingly ugly. But tomorrow I shall be sober, and you will still be disgustingly ugly".

Nancy Astor once said to Churchill, "If I was your wife Id poison your coffee!" He replied, "If I was your husband Id drink it.".

Married at St. Margarets, Westminster, England. Clementine was a decade younger than him.

That Hamilton Woman is reported to have been his favorite movie.

Awarded the 1953 Nobel Prize in literature, he was allegedly disappointed that it wasnt the Nobel Peace Prize for his efforts to prevent the Cold War between the East and West from deteriorating into nuclear conflict.

Said to have refused to allow his successor to nominate him for a peerage after his final resignation as Prime Minister in 1955, ostensibly to allow his son to contest a seat in the House of Commons.

Was a member of The Tuna Club in southern California, the oldest fishing club in the United States. Its members at one time also included Theodore Roosevelt , George S. Patton , Charles Chaplin , and Bing Crosby.

Pictured on a 5 USA commemorative postage stamp issued in his honor, 13 May 1965.

Pictured on a 5 Canadian commemorative postage stamp issued in his honour 12 August 1965.

Early in his life, he briefly worked as a greeting card designer for Hallmark.

Born prematurely in a bedroom during a party at Blenheim Palace. Answering speculation that Winston was conceived before her marriage, Lady Randolph later said, "Although present on the occasion, I have no clear recollection of the events leading up to it.".

Time Magazines "Man of the Year" (1940 & 1949)

Father of Diana Churchill ; Randolph Churchill ; Sarah Churchill ; Marigold Frances and Lady Mary Soames.

First gained fame in England as a war correspondent during the Boer War in 1899-1900. While covering the conflict (as what amounted to an "embedded" journalist, long before the term was coined) he was captured by Boer guerrillas and taken as a prisoner of war. Along with a few other prisoners, Churchill hatched a bold scheme to escape. The success of this plan catapulted him to fame and helped him along on his political career.

In 2004 he came in first place in the BBCs poll of the 100 Greatest Britons. This followed a telephone vote campaign by the Churchill Society.

His father, Lord Randolph Churchill, died on 24 January 1895, exactly 70 years to the day before Winston himself passed away.

He was already 65 years of age when he became Prime Minister of the United Kingdom in 1940. He suffered a mild heart attack in Washington in December 1941, a few days after the attack on Pearl Harbor, and was very ill with bronchitis around Christmas 1943. In 1949, as Leader of the Opposition, he suffered his first stroke while vacating in France; in June 1953, three weeks after the Coronation, he had a severe stroke which would have ended his second premiership had not Foreign Secretary Sir Anthony Eden been hospitalized in America following three unsuccessful gall bladder operations. Following another stroke in April 1955, Churchills health remained reasonably good until a fall from his bed at the Hotel Paris in 1962. Thereafter there was no subsequent recovery, although he remained a Member of Parliament until the 1964 General Election, finally standing down a month before his 90th birthday.

Proposed marriage to Ethel Barrymore. She refused him, but they remained friends.

Early in his writing career, he was often mistaken for American novelist Winston Churchill. Churchill wrote to his counterpart, and told him he was thereafter going to sign all his published works Winston Spencer Churchill to avoid confusion. The two actually met in Boston in 1899, and became fast friends.

His mother, Jennie Jerome, was born in the Cobble Hill section of Brooklyn, NY. Her father, Leonard Jerome, was a financier and business partner of Cornelius Vanderbilt. Jennie and Lord Randolph Churchill, son of the 7th Duke of Marlborough, were introduced by the future King Edward VII in August 1873 (the prince was reportedly one of her lovers; she and his consort, Queen Alexandra , later became good friends). Engaged three days after meeting, the wedding was delayed for months while the Duke and Jerome hammered out financial terms. Jennie and Lord Randolph were married on April 15, 1874, at the British Embassy in Paris. As was the custom of the day, Jennie played a limited role in the upbringing of Winston and his brother John (1880-1947). Winston worshiped his mother, but she rarely visited him at school, despite his numerous letters begging her to. After he became an adult, they forged a strong friendship to the point where he regarded her as more of a big sister than his mother. Well-respected and influential in the highest circles, Jennie was instrumental in launching Winstons career. Five years after Randolphs death, she married George Cornwallis-West, a captain in the Scots Guards, who was 26 days older than Winston. Contrary to popular belief, she did not have a tattoo of a snake around her left wrist. She has been played by Anne Bancroft , Hilde Krahl , Georgie Glen , and Lee Remick.

He was awarded the O.M. (Order of Merit) and C.H. (Companion of Honour), and created a Knight of the Garter (KG), but allegedly declined a dukedom.

Greta Garbo attended his funeral, as an extremely rare 1965 photograph proves.

His father, Lord Randolph Churchill, allegedly died of syphilis.

When Churchill was appointed Chancellor of the Exchequer in 1924, his robes of office were the same ones his father had used a generation earlier.

Almost missed proposing to Clementine Ogilvy. He had promised to take her for a walk around the Blenheim Palace grounds, then overslept. His cousin Charles took Clementine for a carriage ride to prevent her from leaving, and sent a servant to roust Churchill out of bed.

His relationship with his wife was strained by the fact that she rose early every morning and he slept late. As a result they usually left notes and small letters to each other to maintain the intimacy.

All members of the Churchill family had animal nicknames. Wife Clementine was "Cat", son Randolph was "Rabbit", daughter Mary was "Mouse", to name a few.

May have had Alzheimers disease in later life. Although the Churchill Museum maintains his reduced mental capacity was the result of multiple minor strokes since 1949, his symptoms were consistent with the illness.

When traveling abroad during World War II, he would travel under the alias "Col. Walden" for security reasons.

While a young student at Harrow, he and some friends blew up a wooden shed using homemade gunpowder.

He was portrayed by Ian McNeice in the original production of the play "Never So Good", by Howard Brenton , which premiered at the National Theatre, London, UK in March 2008.

Father-in-law of Pamela Harriman during her marriage to Randolph; Vic Oliver and Anthony Beauchamp during their marriages to Sarah; and Christopher Soames during his marriage to Mary.

Grandfather of Winston Churchill , Celia Sandys , Arabella Churchill , and Nicholas Soames.

Risked his career by trying to find a way for the Duke of Windsor to remain on the throne after marrying the Duchess of Windsor. This strained relations so badly between Churchill and the future King George VI that George originally did not want Churchill to be Prime Minister, and would prefer instead to have E.F.L. Wood. Churchill by that point had a majority of Parliament supporting him, though, and so he became Prime Minister. He earned the Kings respect through his leadership during World War II.

Is descended from John Churchill, first Duke of Marlborough, through the female line. Due to this, for many years the familys name was actually Spencer. Churchill was added back to the family name to emphasize their descent from Lord Churchill. In fact, Winstons full name includes the Spencer family name as well. Through the Spencer side of the family, Churchill is also related to Earl Charles Spencer and Princess Diana.

By a decree of 18 June 1958 (anniversary of the famous BBC-broadcasted speech to France in 1940), he was named "Compagnon de la Libration", the prestigious Order initiated by Charles de Gaulle during World War II.

Pictured on one of a set of eight British commemorative postage stamps honoring Prime Ministers, issued 14 October 2014. Other prime ministers featured in the set were William Pitt the Younger, Charles Grey, Robert Peel, William Gladstone, Clement Attlee , Harold Wilson , and Margaret Thatcher. Price of the Churchill, Attlee, Wilson, and Thatcher stamps on day of issue was 97p each.

As a representative for the UK government, he helped draft the Anglo-Irish Treaty, which created the Irish Free State and ended the Anglo-Irish War. He heavily armed the Irish National Army against the anti-Treaty Irish Republican Army during the Irish Civil War.

Befriended Consuelo Vanderbilt , who became the Duchess of Marlborough upon her marriage to his cousin, Charles. Consuelos great-grandfather, Cornelius Vanderbilt , was a business partner of Winstons maternal grandfather, Leonard Jerome.

On 11 May 1940, the day after he became Prime Minister, Churchill ordered the RAF to begin bombing German cities. The first raid took place that evening at Monchengladbach.

Pictured on a set of three postage stamps issued by the Isle of Guernsey 22 January 2015. Stamps were in a single souvenir sheet; each stamp had a denomination of 1.

At the end of World War II he tried to publicly disassociate himself from the blitzing of German cities, due to the immense controversy following the destruction of Dresden. Churchill had began bombing German cities on 11 May 1940, four months before Adolf Hitler retaliated by ordering the London Blitz in response.

He was a vocal supporter of destroying Germany as an economic and industrial power before and during World War II.

He publicly praised Soviet dictator Joseph Stalin s invasions of Poland on 17 September 1939 and of the Baltic states on 14 June 1940. After World War II ended it was confirmed that the joint German-Soviet invasion had been secretly agreed in the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact on 23 August 1939.

He repeatedly rejected offers from Adolf Hitler to end World War II, most notably on 26 May 1940 during the evacuation from Dunkirk, on 19 July 1940 after the Fall of France, and in May 1941 before the start of the Axis invasion of the Soviet Union.

He considered withdrawing all British troops from India in 1942 in response to the "Quit India" movement, so India would be overrun by the Japanese.

During his wartime premiership the UK ceased to be a superpower due to the economic cost of World War II and Lend Lease. The Atlantic Charter promised self-determination to all the colonies of the British Empire.

He was a major proponent of aerial bombing in World War I, the North Russia Intervention, the Third Anglo-Afghan War and the 1920 Iraqi Revolt.

As First Lord of the Admiralty he was responsible for imposing naval blockades on Germany from 1914-19 and 1939-45. Both were illegal under international law.

His first action as Prime Minister was to overrun neutral Iceland on 10 May 1940, to prevent the country from being used as a launching base for an invasion of the UK.

During World War I his decision to use passenger ships like RMS Lusitania to transport munitions for the war effort proved highly controversial. It was speculated that Churchill wanted American passengers to be killed in order to bring the United States into the war.

Suffered a mild heart attack in December 1941, and a bout of pneumonia in December 1943.

US President Lyndon Johnson did not attend Churchills funeral, officially due to a heavy cold. Former President Dwight D. Eisenhower did attend.

As First Lord of the Admiralty he was responsible for the bombing raids on German cities carried out by the Royal Naval Air Service from 22 September 1914, four months before the first Zeppelin raid on the UK.

Despite his later reputation as an opponent of appeasement, Churchill did not begin to regularly speak out against Nazi Germany until May 1938.

Churchill was criticized for making almost no reference in his radio broadcasts to Jews being killed by Axis forces in eastern Europe and the Soviet Union.

He was accused of deliberately starving up to four million people to death in the Bengal Famine of 1943. The famine was likened to a genocide.

His Conservative Party received fewer votes than the Labour Party in the 1951 General Election.

He was reported to have regretted World War II, particularly the destruction of the British Empire and the Soviet occupation of eastern Europe, remarking, "We have slaughtered the wrong pig". However it is unconfirmed whether he really made this remark.

The destruction of Dresden in February 1945 led to calls for Churchill to be tried for war crimes.

As Secretary of State for War and Secretary of State for Air, Churchill was responsible for air strikes on civilians in Russia, Iraq and Afghanistan.

In 1947 he advocated a decapitating nuclear strike on the Soviet Union to Republican US Sen. Styles Bridges.

An unpublished article from 1937 attributed to Churchill led to accusations of anti-Semitism, although some historians maintain the article was written by others.

He was largely responsible for the failure of the Norwegian Campaign in April-May 1940, which brought down Neville Chamberlain. Ironically Churchill replaced Chamberlain as Prime Minister on 10 May.

Ordered the destruction of the French navy at Mers-el-Kebir on the coast of French Algiers on 3 July 1940. 1,297 French sailors were killed and 350 wounded. The French had already promised Churchill they would not allow their ships to be captured by the Germans or by the Italians. Recruitment for the Free French movement plummeted, and some French politicians and military leaders even considered joining the Axis Powers and declaring war on the UK. In the event Adolf Hitler wished for France to remain neutral in 1940, although the French bombed Gibraltar. The scuttling of the French fleet at Toulon on 27 November 1942 suggested to many people that Churchills actions in 1940 had been unnecessary.

There was due to be a General Election in 1940, but it was suspended due to World War II. It is likely that Churchill would have lost an election at any time during the war.

Advocated using poison gas against civilians.

Ordered the construction of London Central Mosque in 1940, in recognition of all the Muslim servicemen who were fighting against the Axis Powers. The Viceroy of British India had declared the country was at war with Germany before the Indian parliament could even debate the matter.

May have provoked Adolf Hitler into launching the Blitz by deliberately bombing German cities from May 1940. After the Dunkirk evacuation and the subsequent fall of France there were many people in the UK who wanted to end the war.

He helped cover up the Katyn massacre by the Soviets in Poland.

In a secret memorandum on 28 March 1945 Churchill admitted Dresden was bombed only in order to terrorize the citys civilian population. The city itself had no military significance.

Authorized the use of diphenylaminechloroarsine on villages in northern Russia in August-September 1919.

Is portrayed by Robert Hardy in "War and Remembrance" , Albert Finney in The Gathering Storm , Brendan Gleeson in Into the Storm , Timothy Spall in The Kings Speech and Jackboots on Whitehall , Michael Gambon in Churchills Secret , John Lithgow in "The Crown" and Gary Oldman in Darkest Hour . , Jackboots on Whitehall .

Churchill was always far more popular in the US than he was in the UK.

Secret documents declassified in 2011 by MI5 revealed how Churchill overthrew the elected government of British Guiana (now Guyana) in a surprise military coup on 9 October 1953 because he feared its left-wing Prime Minister Gagan Chedda would lead the British colony into an alliance with the Soviet Union.

The bombing of Mannheim by the RAF on 15 December 1940 is often described as the first deliberate terror bombing of World War II.

Publicly advocated the use of labor camps and forced sterilization.

Donated funds for the defense of Field Marshal Erich von Manstein on charges of war crimes.

After World War II Churchill claimed that the German invasion of the Rhineland in March 1936 was the moment Adolf Hitler should have been "stood up to", only he did not say that at the time. Churchills views about defense and weaponry were often less well-informed than popular mythology would have people believe.

Sent the Black and Tans--a paramilitary police force noted for its brutality--to Ireland in 1920.

Conspiracy theories persist that Churchill knew about the impending Japanese attack on the US naval bases at Pearl Harbor and allowed it to happen.

Publicly defended the use of concentration camps in South Africa during the Second Boer War.

Caused lasting hatred in south Wales by sending troops to maintain order in response to the Tonypandy riots during the coal miners strike of November 1910.

The London dockers were paid to lower their cranes as Churchills coffin was taken along the River Thames.

Put tanks on the streets of Glasgow during a strike in 1919. This was known as the Battle of George Square.

He had publicly praised both Adolf Hitler and Benito Mussolini before World War II.

Planned to use mustard gas and phosgene to help repel an Axis invasion in 1940-41, and had there been an invasion he intended to also deploy it against German cities.

Although Churchill was widely condemned for allowing Poland to be overrun by the Soviet Union at the end of World War II, he had in fact publicly defended the Soviet invasion of Poland in September 1939.

His decision as First Lord of the Admiralty to use passenger liners to transport war munitions during World War I violated the Geneva Convention.

Shortly before Christmas 1954 he told a visitor to 10 Downing Street that he believed in white supremacy.

Churchill was one of the only British politicians to praise Tsar Nicholas II at the time of his abdication in 1917. His decision to militarily intervene in the Russian Civil War has been blamed for the Soviet Union becoming more extreme and isolationist in the 1920s under Joseph Stalin.

During his last visit to the United States in 1961 he was too infirm to accept an offer from President John F. Kennedy to be flown to Washington.

He was against the European Coal and Steel Community, which he saw as a Franco-German project. Churchill did not believe the UK should join as it still had an empire in the early 1950s.

Used concentration camps in Kenya in the 1950s during the Mau Mau Uprising.

There were plans to bomb the Soviet Union during 1940-41, due to the German-Soviet Commercial Agreement. Having consolidated Britains control of Syria and Lebanon, Churchill seriously considered using the RAF in Iraq to bomb the oilfields in Baku on 12 June 1941, just ten days before the European Axis Powers invaded the Soviet Union.

Uncle of Clarissa Spencer-Churchill.

His second premiership was notorious for its crackdown on homosexuals. Homosexuality was not legalized in the UK until 1967.

Nearly met with Adolf Hitler in Munich in 1932.

Publicly defended the French invasion of Germany in 1923.

Personally destroyed thousands of top secret documents from World War II.

It is believed his wartime speeches were sometimes read by actor Norman Shelley , as the House of Commons was not fitted with recording equipment at that time. Churchill rerecorded all his wartime speeches at Chartwell in 1949.

He seriously considered ending the war on 26 May 1940 during the War Cabinet Crisis, saying he was willing to give up the British colonies of Malta and Gibraltar and some African colonies.

His beloved poodle was named Rufus.

He was accused on betraying Bomber Command after World War II by deliberately distancing himself from the very policy he had advocated as Prime Minister.

Publicly defended the Eisenhower administrations coup dtat in Guatemala in June 1954, but was annoyed by the disinclination of the Americans to pressure Egypt into signing the Suez Canal Base Agreement.

Used the M Device, a highly secret chemical weapon, against Russian Bolsheviks. 50,000 were taken up in planes and then dropped on Bolshevik Red Army positions and Bolshevik-controlled villages in northern Russia between August and September 1918. The number of casualties is unknown.

Jewish biographer Sir Martin Gilbert, who was accused of being too favorable towards the wartime leader in his books, nevertheless conceded that Churchill did hold anti-Semitic views.

Elected to the New Hampshire legislature in 1901.

Graduate of the Annapolis Naval Academy, Class of 1895.

Early in his career his writings were sometimes mistaken for those of the Englishman, Winston Spencer Churchill.

Was told by Winston Churchill when they met in Boston, Massachusetts in 1899: "Why dont you get into politics? I mean to be Prime Minister of England one day. I think it would be a great lark if you were President of the United States at the same time!" The American Winston was elected to the New Hampshire legislature two years afterward (1901), and later made a run for governor, but was unsuccessful.

Grandson of Winston Churchill and Clementine Churchill. Nephew of Diana Churchill , Sarah Churchill , and Lady Mary Soames. Cousin of Celia Sandys and Nicholas Soames.

Son of Randolph Churchill and Pamela Harriman.

Half-brother of Arabella Churchill and Brooke Hayward.

In 2005, a year of significant anniversaries in the UK, Winston holds the unique distinction of having direct ancestral links with no fewer than three of them. The first, the 60th anniversary of World War II is obvious. The other two are through his mother, Pamela Harriman ne Digby. Her great grandfathers great grandfather was Captain Henry Digby of HMS Africa which played a significant part in the Battle of Trafalgar (200th anniversary) and, in turn, his great grandfathers great grandfather was Sir Everard Digby, one of the conspirators in the Gunpowder Plot (400th anniversary).

Born at Chequers, the official country residence of the Prime Minister.

His grandfathers papers were purchased by the state in 1995 utilising 12 million of National Lottery money amid huge public controversy because he was a Tory MP at the time. He is the principal beneficiary of Winston Churchills estate.

Grandfather of Serena Barbara and John (Randolphs children), and Henry (Marinas son).

Father of Randolph Leonard (b. 1965), Jennie (b. 1966), Marina (b. 1967) and John Gerard (b. 1975).

[commenting on the Battle of Britain] Never in the field of human,conflict was so much owed by so many to so few.

We shall not flag or fail. We shall go on to the end. We shall fight in,France, we shall fight on the seas and oceans, we shall fight with,growing confidence and growing strength in the air. We shall defend our,island whatever the cost may be. We shall fight on the beaches, we,shall fight on the landing-grounds, we shall fight in the fields, we,shall fight in the hills, we shall never surrender.

[(speech, 30 March 1940)] Although the fate of Poland stares them in the,face, there are thoughtless dilettanti or purblind wordlings who,sometimes ask us, "What is it that Britain and France are fighting,for?" To this I answer, "If we left off fighting you would soon find,out!",Golf is a game whose aim it is to hit a very small ball into an even,smaller hole with weapons singularly ill-designed for the purpose.

History will be kind to me for I intend to write it.

I am always ready to learn although I do not always like being taught.

When you have to kill a man, it costs nothing to be polite.

Writing a book is an adventure: it begins as an amusement, then it,becomes a mistress, then a master, and finally a tyrant.

Already by 1900 I could boast I had written as many books as Moses.

We shape our buildings; thereafter they shape us.

[on the Soviet Union] It is a riddle, wrapped in a mystery, inside an,enigma.

A lie gets halfway around the world before the truth has a chance to get,its pants on.

It is impossible to obtain a conviction for sodomy from an English jury.

An appeaser is one who feeds a crocodile, hoping it will eat him last.

It has been said that democracy is the worst form of government except,all the others that have been tried.

Socialism is a philosophy of failure, the creed of ignorance, and the,gospel of envy, its inherent virtue is the equal sharing of misery.

Some regard private enterprise as if it were a predatory tiger to be,shot. Others look upon it as a cow that they can milk. Only a handful,see it for what it really is--the strong horse that pulls the whole,cart.

The inherent vice of capitalism is the unequal sharing of blessings; the,inherent virtue of socialism is the equal sharing of miseries.

We have our own dream and our own task. We are with Europe, but not of,it. We are linked, but not comprised. We are interested and associated,but not absorbed.

[his view on never finishing a sentence with a preposition] Up with this,stupidity I will not put.

Some men change their party for the sake of their principles; others,their principles for the sake of their party.

Politics are almost as exciting as war, and quite as dangerous. In war,you can only be killed once, but in politics many times.

Success is going from failure to failure without a loss of enthusiasm.

How I hated this school, and what a life of anxiety I lived there for,more than two years. I made very little progress in my lessons, and,none at all at games. I counted the days and the hours to the end of,every term, when I should return home from this hateful servitude and,range my soldiers in line of battle on the nursery floor. The greatest,pleasure I had in those days was reading. When I was nine and a half my,father gave me "Treasure Island", and I remember the delight with which,I devoured it. My teachers saw me at once backward and precocious,reading books beyond my years and yet at the bottom of the form. They,were offended. They had large resources of compulsion at their,disposal, but I was stubborn. Where my reason, imagination or interest,were not engaged, I would not or I could not learn.

A socialist policy is abhorrent to British ideas on freedom. A socialist,state could not afford to suffer opposition--no socialist system can be,established without a political police.

[responding to an accusation that he was conceived out of wedlock],Although present on the occasion, I have no recollection of the events,leading up to it.

Success is not final; failure is not fatal; it is the courage to,continue that counts.

I like a man who grins when he fights.

How dreadful are the curses which Mohammedanism lays on its votaries!,Besides the fanatical frenzy, which is as dangerous in a man as,hydrophobia in a dog, there is this fearful fatalistic apathy.

Improvident habits, slovenly systems of agriculture, sluggish methods,of commerce, and insecurity of property exist wherever the followers of,the Prophet rule or live. A degraded sensualism deprives this life of,its grace and refinement; the next of its dignity and sanctity.

[on bravery] Courage is the first of human qualities because it is the,quality which guarantees all others.

[on father/mother] Where does a family start? It starts with a young man,in love with a girl--no superior alternative has yet to be found.

If we open a quarrel between the past and the present, we shall find,that we have lost the future.

There are two things that are more difficult than making an after-dinner,speech: climbing a wall which is leaning toward you and kissing a girl,who is leaning away from you.

[on becoming Prime Minister, May 10, 1940] I have nothing to offer but,blood, toil, tears and sweat.

[to an aide who advised, "We must kiss America on both cheeks"] Yes, but,not on all four.

I have often had to eat my words and, on the whole, I have found them to,be a nourishing diet.

[in Montreal, 1929] How splendid is our common inheritance. It was a,thrill that, after crossing for several days the great wastes of the,Atlantic, I landed in a new world, in a new hemisphere, and found,myself at home.

[observation, 1935] When the situation was manageable, it was neglected.

Now that it is thoroughly out of hand, we apply the remedies which then,might have effected a cure. Nothing new in this story, until the,emergency comes, until self-preservation strikes its jarring,gong--these are the features that constitute the endless repetition of,history.

[after Munich, 1938] Britain and France had to choose between war and,dishonor. They chose dishonor.

[on his Chiefs of Staff, 1944] They may say I lead them up the garden,path, but at every stage of the garden they have found delectable fruit,and wholesome vegetables.

The territories of the future are the territories of the mind.

[on the destruction of Dresden] It seems to me that the moment has come,when the question of bombing of German cities simply for the sake of,increasing the terror, though under other pretexts, should be reviewed,. . . I feel the need for more precise concentration upon military,objectives such as oil and communications behind the immediate,battle-zone, rather than on mere acts of terror and wanton destruction,however impressive.

I hate Indians. They are a beastly people with a beastly religion.

I am strongly in favor of using poisoned gas against uncivilized tribes,. . . [It] would spread a lively terror.

If an atomic bomb could be dropped on the Kremlin wiping it out, it,would be a very easy problem to handle the balance of Russia, which,would be without direction.

If you got home only once with the gas you would find no more Bolshies,this side of Vologda.

Moreover, the principal inspiration and driving power comes from Jewish,leaders . . . The same evil prominence was obtained by Jews in Hungary,and Germany, especially Bavaria. Although in all these countries there,are many non-Jews every whit as bad as the worst of the Jewish,revolutionaries, the part played by the latter in proportion to their,numbers in the population is astonishing. The fact that in many cases,Jewish interests and Jewish places of worship are excepted by the,Bolsheviks from their universal hostility has tended more and more to,associate the Jewish race in Russia with the villainies which are now,being perpetrated.

I do not admit for instance, that a great wrong has been done to the Red,Indians of America or the black people of Australia. I do not admit,that a wrong has been done to these people by the fact that a stronger,race, a higher-grade race, a more worldly wise race to put it that way,has come in and taken their place.

The Western democracies, now armed and arming heavily, have much to give,these harassed dictators, if they would only prove that they mean to be,the friends and not the bane of our common humanity. If the true,concert of Europe were re-established, our collective remonstrances,would not go unheeded in the Far East.

But he has one important political force in reserve. M. Blum will not,fail the cause of European freedom. His influence with the Socialist,party is commanding. He will certainly give loyal aid.

But 300,000 Jews in Vienna present a problem of large dimensions and,intractable quality to a policy of extirpation . . . The tale of their,tribulation spreads widely through the world, and it is astonishing,that the German rulers are not more concerned at the tides of,abhorrence and anger which are rising ceaselessly against them through,the heavily-arming United States.

Here we must recognize the services which Soviet Russia is rendering in,the Far East to civilization and also to British and United States,interests.

I wonder whether the French people realize how bitter and persistent is,the pro-German propaganda in this island? The strongest point,repeatedly made, is that France is on the verge of collapse. She is,portrayed as about to go down the same bloody sewer as Spain has done.

European and American missionaries have carried their message,fearlessly into the recesses of China.

The first step is to find out which of the Powers of the second rank in,Europe would be willing to join with Great Britain and France for,special action, not excluding armed resistance, under the Covenant of,the League.

If France broke, everything would break, and the Nazi domination of,Europe, and potentially of a large part of the world, would seem to be,inevitable.

Famine or no famine, Indians will breed like rabbits.

[from a radio speech, August 20, 1940] The gratitude of every home in,our Island, in our Empire, and indeed throughout the world - except in,the abodes of the guilty - goes out to the British airmen who,undaunted by odds, unwearied in their constant challenge and mortal,danger, are turning the tide of war by their prowess and by their,devotion. Never in the field of human conflict was so much owed by so,many to so few.

This movement among the Jews is not new. From the days of,Spartacus-Weishaupt to those of Karl Marx, and down to Trotsky,(Russia), Bela Kun (Hungary), Rosa Luxembourg (Germany), and Emma,Goldman (United States) . . . this worldwide conspiracy for the overthrow,of civilisation and for the reconstitution of society on the basis of,arrested development, of envious malevolence, and impossible equality,has been steadily growing. It has been the mainspring of every,subversive movement during the 19th century; and now at last this band,of extraordinary personalities from the underworld of the great cities,of Europe and America have gripped the Russian people by the hair of,their heads and have become practically the undisputed masters of that,enormous empire.

[on India] A godless land of snobs and bores.

I will not pretend that, if I had to choose between Communism and,Nazism, I would choose Communism.

The unnatural and increasingly rapid growth of the feeble-minded and,insane classes, coupled as it is with a steady restriction among all,the thrifty, energetic and superior stocks, constitutes a national and,race danger which it is impossible to exaggerate . . . I feel that the,source from which the stream of madness is fed should be cut off and,sealed up before another year has passed.

It is alarming and nauseating to see Mr Gandhi, a seditious Middle,Temple lawyer, now posing as a fakir of a type well known in the east,striding half naked up the steps of the viceregal palace, while he is,still organising and conducting a campaign of civil disobedience, to,parlay on equal terms with the representative of the Emperor-King.

When I look round to see how we can win the war, I see that there is,only one sure path . . . an absolutely devastating, exterminating attack,by very heavy bombers from this country upon the Nazi homeland.

[to the London Polish government, October 1944] You are callous people,who want to wreck Europe - you do not care about the future of Europe,you have only your own miserable interests in mind.

[1937] It would be easy to ascribe it to the wickedness of the,persecutors, but that does not fit all the facts. It exists even in,lands, like Great Britain and the United States, where Jew and Gentile,are equal in the eyes of the law, and where large numbers of Jews have,found not only asylum, but opportunity. These facts must be faced in,any analysis of anti-Semitism. They should be pondered especially by,the Jews themselves. For it may be that, unwittingly, they are inviting,persecution - that they have been partly responsible for the antagonism,from which they suffer.

The choice was clearly open: crush them with vain and unstinted force,or try to give them what they want. These were the only alternatives,and most people were unprepared for either. Here indeed was the Irish,spectre - horrid and inexorcisable.

So far as Britain and Russia were concerned, how would it do for you to,have 90% of Romania, for us to have 90% of the say in Greece, and go,50/50 about Yugoslavia?,[during World War I] Perhaps the next time round the way to do it will,be to kill women, children and the civilian population.

[to General Smuts] You are responsible for all our troubles in India -,you had Gandhi for years and did not do away with him.

I do not see why the disgusting stertorous slumber of the Boche should,remain undisturbed.

[on the Axis invasion of the Soviet Union] It came from God - we did,nothing about it.

[on the Poles] These heroic people dogged by their maladroitness in,political affairs for three hundred years.

The conflict between good and evil which proceeds unceasingly in the,breast of man nowhere reaches such an intensity as in the Jewish race.

The dual nature of mankind is nowhere more strongly or more terribly,exemplified. We owe to the Jews in the Christian revelation a system of,ethics which, even if it were entirely separated from the supernatural,would be incomparably the most precious possession of mankind, worth in,fact the fruits of all other wisdom and learning put together. On that,system and by that faith there has been built out of the wreck of the,Roman Empire the whole of our existing civilization.

[after the sinking of RMS Lusitania] It is most important to attract,neutral shipping to our shores in the hope especially of embroiling the,United States with Germany . . . For our part we want the traffic - the,more the better; and if some of it gets into trouble, better still.

There is no need to exaggerate the part played in the creation of,Bolshevism and in the actual bringing about of the Russian Revolution,by these international and for the most part atheistical Jews, it is,certainly a very great one; it probably outweighs all others. With the,notable exception of Lenin, the majority of the leading figures are,Jews. Moreover, the principal inspiration and driving power comes from,the Jewish leaders. Thus Tchitcherin, a pure Russian, is eclipsed by,his nominal subordinate Litvinoff, and the influence of Russians like,Bukharin or Lunacharski cannot be compared with the power of Trotsky,or of Zinovieff, the Dictator of the Red Citadel (Petrograd) or of,Krassin or Radek - all Jews. In the Soviet institutions the,predominance of Jews is even more astonishing. And the prominent, if,not indeed the principal, part in the system of terrorism applied by,the Extraordinary Commissions for Combating Counter-Revolution has been,taken by Jews, and in some notable cases by Jewesses. The same evil,prominence was obtained by Jews in the brief period of terror during,which Bela Kun ruled in Hungary. The same phenomenon has been presented,in Germany (especially in Bavaria), so far as this madness has been,allowed to prey upon the temporary prostration of the German people.

Although in all these countries there are many non-Jews every whit as,bad as the worst of the Jewish revolutionaries, the part played by the,latter in proportion to their numbers in the population is astonishing.

Gandhi should not be released on the account of a mere threat of,fasting. We should be rid of a bad man and an enemy of the Empire if he,died.

[on Neville Chamberlain] In one phase, men seem to have been right; in,another, they seem to have been wrong. Then again, when the perspective,of time has lengthened, all stands in a different setting. There is a,new proportion, there is another scale of values.

The moral effect should be so good that the loss of life should be,reduced to a minimum. It is not necessary to use only the most deadly,gasses: gasses can be used which cause great inconvenience and would,spread a lively terror and yet would leave no serious permanent effect,on most of those affected.

It fell to Neville Chamberlain in one of the supreme crises of the world,to be contradicted by events, to be disappointed in his hopes, and to,be deceived and cheated by a wicked man. But what were these hopes in,which he was disappointed? What were these wishes in which he was,frustrated? What was that faith that was abused? They were surely among,the most noble and benevolent instincts of the human heart - the love,of peace, the toil for peace, the strife for peace, the pursuit of,peace, even at great peril, and certainly to the utter disdain of,popularity or clamor. Whatever else history may or may not say about,these terrible, tremendous years, we can be sure that Neville,Chamberlain acted with perfect sincerity according to his lights and,strove to the utmost of his capacity and authority, which were,powerful, to save the world from the awful, devastating struggle in,which we are now engaged. This alone will stand him in good stead as,far as what is called the verdict of history is concerned.

We will force this war upon Hitler, if he wants it or not.

I propose that 100,000 degenerate Britons should be forcibly sterilized,and others put in labour camps to halt the decline of the British race.

If one has to submit it is wasteful not to do so with the best grace possible.

I am easily satisfied with the very best.

The English know how to make the best of things. Their so-called muddling through is simply skill at dealing with the inevitable.

We shape our buildings thereafter they shape us.

Success is going from failure to failure without loss of enthusiasm.

That long (Canadian) frontier from the Atlantic to the Pacific Ocean guarded only by neighbourly respect and honourable obligations as an example to every country and a pattern for the future of the world.

Victory at all costs victory in spite of all terror victory however long and hard the road may be for without victory there is no survival.

My most brilliant achievement was my ability to be able to persuade my wife to marry me.

Courage is rightly esteemed the first of human qualities because it is the quality which guarantees all others.

Courage is the first of the human qualities because it is the quality which guarantees all the others.

Without courage all other virtues lose their meaning.

Success is never found. Failure is never fatal. Courage is the only thing.

We shall draw from the heart of suffering itself the means of inspiration and survival.

We must beware of needless innovations especially when guided by logic.

It has been said that Democracy is the worst form of government except all those other forms that have been tried from time to time.

Most people hate the taste of beer to begin with. It is however a prejudice that many people have been able to overcome.

The English never draw a line without blurring it.

I have nothing to offer but blood toil tears and sweat.

Let us therefore brace ourselves to our duties and so -bear ourselves that if the British Empire and its Commonwealth last for a thousand years men will still say "This was their finest hour. ",Never in the field of human conflict was so much owed by so many to so few.

Success is going from failure to failure without loss of enthusiasm.

Where does the family start? It starts with a young man falling in love with a girl - no superior alternative has yet been found.

It is a mistake to look too far ahead. Only one link in the chain of destiny can be handled at a time.

When I am abroad I always make it a rule never to criticize or attack the government of my own country. I make up for lost time when I come home.

We are all worms but I do believe that I am a glow-worm.

Dictators ride to and fro on tigers from which they dare not dismount. And the tigers are getting hungry.

An appeaser is one who feeds a crocodile - hoping it will eat him last.

Mr. Attlee is a very modest man. But then he has much to be modest about.

The whole history of the world is summed up in the fact that when nations are strong they are not always just and when they wish to be just they are no longer strong.

I have nothing to offer but blood toil tears and sweat.

I have never accepted what many people have kindly said namely that I have inspired the nation. It was the nation and the race dwelling all around the globe that had the lion heart. I had the luck to be called upon to give the roar.

I am prepared to meet my Maker. Whether my Maker is prepared for the ordeal of meeting me is another matter.

Without a measureless and perpetual uncertainty the drama of human life would be destroyed.

Terminological inexactitude,Never in the field of human conflict was so much owed by so many to so few.

The English never draw a line without blurring it.

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.

The English never draw a line without blurring it.

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.

The English never draw a line without blurring it.

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.

The English never draw a line without blurring it.

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.

The English never draw a line without blurring it.

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.

The English never draw a line without blurring it.

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.

The English never draw a line without blurring it.

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.

The English never draw a line without blurring it.

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.

Continuous efforts-not strength or intelligence-is the key to unlocking our potential.

Never give in! Never give in! Never never never never. . . . In nothing great or small large or petty never give in except to convictions or honor and good sense!,We shall go on to the end. We shall fight in France we shall fight with growing confidence and growing strength in the air we shall defend our island whatever the cost may be. We shall fight on the beaches we shall fight on the landing grounds we shall fight in the fields and in the streets we shall fight in the halls. We shall never surrender.

Curse ruthless time! Curse our mortality. How cruelly short is the allotted span for all we must cram into it!,Out of intense complexities intense simplicities emerge.

I cannot pretend to feel impartial about colours. I rejoice with the brilliant ones and am genuinely sorry for the poor browns.

The maxim "Nothing avails but perfection" may be spelled "Paralysis. ",Politics is more dangerous than war for in war you are only killed once.

India is a geographical term. It is no more a United Nation than the Equator.

He has all of the virtues I dislike and none of the vices I admire.

I have nothing to offer but blood toil tears and sweat.

All the great things are simple and many can be expressed in a single word: freedom justice honor duty mercy hope.

Solitary trees if they grow at all grow strong.

Say what you have to say and the first time you come to a sentence with a grammatical ending - sit down.

Success is going from failure to failure without loss of enthusiasm.

It is no use saying "we are doing our best. " You have got to succeed in doing what is necessary.

Continuous effort-not strength or intelligence-is the key to unlocking our potential.

The problems of victory are more agreeable than those of defeat but they are no less difficult.

Victory at all costs victory in spite of all terror victory however long and hard the hard may be for without victory there is no survival.

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.

It is a mistake to look too far ahead. Only one link in the chain of destiny can be handled at a time.

If we open a quarrel between the past and the present we shall find we have lost the future.

There are few virtues which the Poles do not possess and there are few errors they have ever avoided.

Do not let us speak of darker days let us speak rather of sterner days. These are not dark days: these are great days - the greatest days our country has ever lived.

Let us therefore brace ourselves to our duties and so bear ourselves that if the British Empire and its Commonwealth last for a thousand years men will still say: "This was their finest hour. ",We shall not flag or fail. We shall fight in France we shall fight on the seas and oceans we shall fight with growing confidence and growing strength in the air we shall defend our island whatever the cost may be we shall fight on the beaches we shall fight on the landing grounds we shall fight in the fields and in the streets we shall fight in the hills we shall never surrender.

War is mainly a catalogue of blunders.

No one can guarantee success in war but only deserve it.

In war as in life it is often necessary when some cherished scheme has failed to take up the best alternative open and if so it is folly not to work for it with all your might.

We must have a better word than "prefabricated" why not "ready-made"?,I remember the story of the old man who said on his deathbed that he had had a lot of trouble in his life most of which never happened.

Some people regard private enterprise as a predatory tiger to be shot. Others look on it as a cow they can milk. Not enough people see it as a healthy horse, pulling a sturdy wagon.

I am certainly not one of those who need to be prodded. In fact, if anything, I am the prod.

Politics is not a game. It is an earnest business.

We have always found the Irish a bit odd. They refuse to be English.

All the great things are simple, and many can be expressed in a single word: freedom, justice, honor, duty, mercy, hope.

The British nation is unique in this respect. They are the only people who like to be told how bad things are, who like to be told the worst.

We do not covet anything from any nation except their respect.

We shall defend our island, whatever the cost may be, we shall fight on the beaches, we shall fight on the landing grounds, we shall fight in the fields and in the streets, we shall fight in the hills; we shall never surrender.

In wartime, truth is so precious that she should always be attended by a bodyguard of lies.

A prisoner of war is a man who tries to kill you and fails, and then asks you not to kill him.

Those who can win a war well can rarely make a good peace and those who could make a good peace would never have won the war.

Politics are very much like war. We may even have to use poison gas at times.

When the war of the giants is over the wars of the pygmies will begin.

I am never going to have anything more to do with politics or politicians. When this war is over I shall confine myself entirely to writing and painting.

In war as in life, it is often necessary when some cherished scheme has failed, to take up the best alternative open, and if so, it is folly not to work for it with all your might.

Success consists of going from failure to failure without loss of enthusiasm.

Socialism is a philosophy of failure, the creed of ignorance, and the gospel of envy, its inherent virtue is the equal sharing of misery.

This report, by its very length, defends itself against the risk of being read.

We make a living by what we get, but we make a life by what we give.

Christmas is a season not only of rejoicing but of reflection.

Solitary trees, if they grow at all, grow strong.

Kites rise highest against the wind - not with it.

This is no time for ease and comfort. It is time to dare and endure.

Sure I am of this, that you have only to endure to conquer.

Too often the strong, silent man is silent only because he does not know what to say, and is reputed strong only because he has remained silent.

I am prepared to meet my Maker. Whether my Maker is prepared for the great ordeal of meeting me is another matter.

We shape our buildings thereafter they shape us.

It is a mistake to look too far ahead. Only one link of the chain of destiny can be handled at a time.

I am easily satisfied with the very best.

The short words are best, and the old words are the best of all.

Study history, study history. In history lies all the secrets of statecraft.

For my part, I consider that it will be found much better by all parties to leave the past to history, especially as I propose to write that history myself.

The power of an air force is terrific when there is nothing to oppose it.

It is more agreeable to have the power to give than to receive.

The power of man has grown in every sphere, except over himself.

Courage is what it takes to stand up and speak courage is also what it takes to sit down and listen.

Man will occasionally stumble over the truth, but most of the time he will pick himself up and continue on.

We occasionally stumble over the truth but most of us pick ourselves up and hurry off as if nothing had happened.

Courage is rightly esteemed the first of human qualities. . . because it is the quality which guarantees all others.

No crime is so great as daring to excel.

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.

I always seem to get inspiration and renewed vitality by contact with this great novel land of yours which sticks up out of the Atlantic.

I was only the servant of my country and had I, at any moment, failed to express her unflinching resolve to fight and conquer, I should at once have been rightly cast aside.

My most brilliant achievement was my ability to be able to persuade my wife to marry me.

Without tradition, art is a flock of sheep without a shepherd. Without innovation, it is a corpse.

In war, you can only be killed once, but in politics, many times.

Politics is almost as exciting as war, and quite as dangerous. In war you can only be killed once, but in politics many times.

Never, never, never give up.

It has been said that democracy is the worst form of government except all the others that have been tried.

When I am abroad, I always make it a rule never to criticize or attack the government of my own country. I make up for lost time when I come home.

To improve is to change to be perfect is to change often.

If we open a quarrel between past and present, we shall find that we have lost the future.

It is always wise to look ahead, but difficult to look further than you can see.

The empires of the future are the empires of the mind. .