Winston Churchill

British PM during WWII

Modern influential 86 sayings

Sayings by Winston Churchill

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

1948 — From his book "Painting as a Pastime"
Strange & Unusual Unverifiable

You will never reach your destination if you stop and throw stones at every dog that barks.

1941 — Speech in the House of Commons
Strange & Unusual Unverifiable

I am fond of pigs. Dogs look up to us. Cats look down on us. Pigs treat us as equals.

Unknown — Attributed in various biographies
Strange & Unusual Unverifiable

Meeting Roosevelt was like opening your first bottle of champagne; knowing Stalin was like drinking a whole bottle of vodka.

1945 — Remark to his private secretary
Strange & Unusual Unverifiable

If you are going through hell, keep going.

1941 — Speech during WWII
Strange & Unusual Confirmed

A fanatic is one who can’t change his mind and won’t change the subject.

1954 — Speech in the House of Commons
Strange & Unusual Unverifiable

When I was younger, I made it a rule never to take strong drink before lunch. It is now my rule never to do so before breakfast.

Unknown — Attributed in various biographies
Strange & Unusual Unverifiable

I am strongly in favour of using poisoned gas against uncivilised tribes; it would spread a lively terror.

1919 — Memo to War Office
Controversial Unverifiable

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

1942 — Remark to his private secretary, Jock Colville
Controversial Confirmed

The Aryan stock is bound to triumph.

Early 20th Century (approximate) — Attributed, cited by historians as reflecting his racial views.
Controversial Unverifiable

I do not understand this squeamishness about the use of gas. I am strongly in favour of using poisoned gas against uncivilised tribes.

1919 — Telegram to Hugh Trenchard, Chief of the Air Staff
Controversial Unverifiable

I do not admit 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.

1937 — Speech to the Peel Commission
Controversial Confirmed

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

1948 — Speech in the House of Commons
Controversial Unverifiable

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

1938 — Speech in the House of Commons
Controversial Unverifiable

Democracy is the worst form of government, except for all the others that have been tried.

1947 — Speech in the House of Commons
Controversial Unverifiable

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.

1940 — Speech to the House of Commons
Controversial Unverifiable

The British character is a mixture of being very brave and very stupid.

1940s (approximate) — Attributed, often cited as a private remark.
Controversial Unverifiable

The utmost force should be used.

1919 — Regarding the Amritsar Massacre, as Secretary of State for War
Controversial Unverifiable

The English are not a race. They are a community.

1930s-1940s (approximate) — Attributed, reflecting his view on national identity.
Controversial Unverifiable

I am certainly not one of those who would be content to see the British Empire dissolved, its glory departed, and its people sunk in the squalor of a common European citizenship.

1948 — Speech in the House of Commons
Controversial Unverifiable