7 Churchill Quotes You May Not Know
Churchill carried England on the power of his voice.
7 Churchill Quotes:
#1. Leaders define reality.
Churchill gave people a bold way of seeing.
“These are not dark days. These are great days. The greatest days our country has ever lived. And we must all thank God that we have been allowed, each of us according to our stations, to play a part in making these days memorable in the history of our race.” #1.
#2. Leaders aim at a target.
“You ask, ‘What is our aim. I can answer in one word. It is victory. Victory at all costs.” #2.
A goal comes to life when you give it a reason. Running everyday is a goal. Running a marathon is a reason.
Churchill gave England an enemy and a will to win.
#3. Leaders speak to nobility.
“I never gave them courage, I focused theirs.” #3.
“It may well be that the most glorious chapters of our history are yet to be written.” #4.
Speak courage into people. Acknowledge problems. Focus on winning.
“Never give in—never, never, never, never, except to convictions of honor and good sense.” #5.
#4. Leaders speak with realistic optimism.
Accept the world as it is, not as you wish it to be.
During his first speech after becoming Prime Minister, he said, “I have nothing to offer but blood, toil, tears, and sweat. We have before us an ordeal of the most grievous kind.” #6.
Believe you will prevail.
“I take up my task with buoyancy and hope. I feel sure that our cause will not be suffered to fail among men. … Come then, let us go forward together with our united strength.” #7.
Courage needs a cause. The cowardly lion found courage because he loved Dorothy. You lose courage when failure clouds your thinking.
Which quote do you find most compelling?
All quotes are from, “Churchill: Walking with Destiny.”
“The secret of my success? Going from failure to failure with no loss of enthusiasm” That quote has sustained me in tough times.
Hi Eric. Love that quote. In my preparation to write this post, I found that many of the quotes I have attributed to Churchill aren’t his.
I used Quoteinvestigator and The International Churchill Society to check myself. I’m surprised to see that the quote you offer isn’t his either. I checked it here: https://quoteinvestigator.com/2014/06/28/success/
Still a great quote. We just don’t know who said it.
Dan, you’ve done it again! What a great post with such perfect timing. My organization is going through some tough times right now, but this post just reminds me that we have to stay optimistic!
Number 4 really jumps out at me. “I take up my task with buoyancy and hope. I feel sure that our cause will not be suffered to fail among men. … Come then, let us go forward together with our united strength.”
Bam! There it is. Successful organizations push on.
Love it!
Thanks SB. I’m a little over half through Churchill: Walking with Destiny and I am convinced that Churchill believed what he said. He wasn’t blowing smoke.
The belief that we will prevail is powerful medicine when we walk uphill. Cheers
“I take up my task with buoyancy and hope. I feel sure that our cause will not be suffered to fail among men. … Come then, let us go forward together with our united strength.” #7.
Churchill was able to unite them against a clearly identifiable enemy. I’m thinking about this in the context of a current conflict that several team members are working through. As the leader, I’m reading this today and wondering if an absence of a clearly identified external “enemy”, could be leading certain people to unintentionally create one out of their neighbor? Do we unite better when there is a clearly defined externally enemy? Maybe a thought for a future post if you see anything in this! Thanks Dan!
Thanks Brian. You bring up an important point. We pull together to face an external threat. Politicians create enemies to energize their constituencies. Both parties are saying the other party will destroy the country.
Some in Churchill’s day hesitated to call Hitler an evil enemy. They didn’t want to antagonize a bully. Churchill never wavered in his conviction and resolve. While Germany was bombing London. England was bombing Germany.
A quote I didn’t include here is, “You do your worst (speaking of Hitlers gang of goons) and we will do our best.”
How do we play offense even while playing defense?
“I (We) will do my (our) best…” Great life as well as biz quote that keeps you on your path not prey to theirs. From biz negotiations, lawsuits, teams to divorces or tough love…
That’s the truth, Lisa. Don’t let the way someone else acts be the reason for doing stupid things. 🙂
I heard a historian say one time that Winston Churchill is truly one of the most remarkable men of the 20th Century. Many people do not realize that England held off Nazi Germany for more than a year before the United States entered the War. Churchill’s determination, vision, courage, and communication skills kept a nation together over the darkest of times. After the miraculous retreat at Dunkirk, Churchill reminded England, “Wars are not won by evacuations.” At least two people in Churchill’s Cabinet advised him to seek surrender terms from Hitler because they felt England was doomed and seeking terms would be better now than under defeat. Churchill of course refused. He galvanized the nation toward survival and victory. The victory in the Battle of Britain is nothing short of astonishing and that victory may have saved Western Civilization. Travis Matthews
Thanks Travis! You sound like a real fan. Me too. And you are so right. He was one of the most remarkable people of our time. Your comment only got me more fired up about him. 🙂 (Even though he had many frailties.)
He shaped the world.
“Never give in—never, never, never, never, except to convictions of honor and good sense.” #5.
This resonates with me. The balance of passion against something beyond yourself (honor) and the recognition that maybe you need to change your mind.
I’m always curious about what created a man like Churchill. He could have been mired in insisting on the privileges of the past but he was willing to change. His time in the Admiralty where the fleet was converted to diesel, was part of why England had the ships & fuel to fight WWII.
Thanks, Elizabeth. Speaking of what shaped him. The author of Church: Walking with Destiny, thinks his distant parents contributed to his drive to succeed.
Churchill told a friend he would save England from an invading force. Guess how old he was when he said that? 16 yrs old. He was born to save England. Yet, he didn’t become Prime Minister until he was 65.