Winston Churchill is a name that resonates throughout history as a symbol of resilience, leadership, and eloquence. As the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom during the tumultuous years of World War II, Churchill’s role in steering his country through crisis and conflict has cemented his legacy as one of the greatest leaders of the 20th century. His speeches rallied the British people during their darkest hours, and his wisdom has been passed down through generations in the form of quotes that remain as relevant today as they were decades ago.
This collection of 89 Winston Churchill quotes brings together a mix of his most famous sayings alongside some rare quotes that might not be as widely recognized. From quotes that reflect on the nature of the human spirit and governance to quotes about being strong in the face of adversity, Churchill’s words offer insight into the mind of a man who faced down some of history’s greatest challenges with unyielding courage.
90 Winston Churchill Quotes
- “Success is not final, failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that counts.” – Winston Churchill
- “Success is stumbling from failure to failure with no loss of enthusiasm.” – Winston Churchill
- “Never, never, never give in!” – Winston Churchill”If you’re going through hell, keep going.” – Winston Churchill
- “Men occasionally stumble over the truth, but most of them pick themselves up and hurry off as if nothing ever happened.” – Winston Churchill
- “We shall draw from the heart of suffering itself the means of inspiration and survival.” – Winston Churchill
- “Eating words has never given me indigestion.” – Winston Churchill
- “My tastes are simple: I am easily satisfied with the best.” – Winston Churchill
- “The true guide of life is to do what is right.” – Winston Churchill
- “Play the game for more than you can afford to lose… only then will you learn the game.” – Winston Churchill
- “When the eagles are silent, the parrots begin to jabber.” – Winston Churchill
- “Personally, I’m always ready to learn, although I do not always like being taught.” – Winston Churchill
- “The farther backward you can look, the farther forward you can see.” – Winston Churchill
- “There is no time for ease and comfort. It is time to dare and endure.” – Winston Churchill
- “Out of intense complexities, intense simplicities emerge.” – Winston Churchill
- “It is a mistake to try to look too far ahead. The chain of destiny can only be grasped one link at a time.” – Winston Churchill
- “Continuous effort – not strength or intelligence – is the key to unlocking our potential.” – Winston Churchill
- “War is a game that is played with a smile. If you can’t smile, grin. If you can’t grin, keep out of the way till you can.” – Winston Churchill
- “Never let a good crisis go to waste.” – Winston Churchill
- “Power is not a means; it is an end.” – Winston Churchill
- “The greatest lesson in life is to know that even fools are right sometimes.” – Winston Churchill
- “Healthy citizens are the greatest asset any country can have.” – Winston Churchill
- “It’s not enough that we do our best; sometimes we have to do what’s required.” – Winston Churchill
- “There is nothing wrong with change if it is in the right direction.” – Winston Churchill
- “You will never reach your destination if you stop and throw stones at every dog that barks.” – Winston Churchill
- “We are all worms. But I believe that I am a glow-worm.” – Winston Churchill
- “To be really happy and really safe, one ought to have at least two or three hobbies, and they must all be real.” – Winston Churchill
- “The optimist sees the opportunity in every danger; the pessimist sees the danger in every opportunity.” – Winston Churchill
- “Do not let spacious plans for a new world divert your energies from saving what is left of the old.” – Winston Churchill
- “I am always ready to learn although I do not always like being taught.” – Winston Churchill
- “Politics is more dangerous than war, for in war you are only killed once.” – Winston Churchill
- “Diplomacy is the art of telling people to go to hell in such a way that they ask for directions.” – Winston Churchill
- “It is better to be making the news than taking it; to be an actor rather than a critic.” – Winston Churchill
- “We shape our buildings; thereafter they shape us.” – Winston Churchill
- “Courage is rightly esteemed the first of human qualities because it has been said, it is the quality which guarantees all others.” – Winston Churchill
- “The pen of history writes with truth, but it is our courage that provides the ink.” – Winston Churchill
- “The reserve of modern assertions is sometimes pushed to extremes, in which the fear of being contradicted leads the writer to strip himself of almost all sense and meaning.” – Winston Churchill
- “It is a fine thing to be honest, but it is also very important to be right.” – Winston Churchill
- “There is no such thing as a good tax.” – Winston Churchill
- “The best way to cheer yourself up is to try to cheer somebody else up.” – Winston Churchill
- “I am fond of pigs. Dogs look up to us. Cats look down on us. Pigs treat us as equals.” – Winston Churchill
- “When you have to kill a man, it costs nothing to be polite.” – Winston Churchill
- “The problems of victory are more agreeable than those of defeat, but they are no less difficult.” – Winston Churchill
- “I never worry about action, but only about inaction.” – Winston Churchill
- “A good speech should be like a woman’s skirt; long enough to cover the subject and short enough to create interest.” – Winston Churchill
- “To jaw-jaw is always better than to war-war.” – Winston Churchill
- “Battles are won by slaughter and maneuver. The greater the general, the more he contributes in maneuver, the less he demands in slaughter.” – Winston Churchill
- “It is not enough that we do our best; sometimes we must do what is required.” – Winston Churchill
- “The first duty of the university is to teach wisdom, not a trade; character, not technicalities.” – Winston Churchill
- “Courage is the first of human qualities because it is the quality that guarantees all the others.” – Winston Churchill
- “I have nothing to offer but blood, toil, tears, and sweat.” – Winston Churchill
- “You will never get to the end of the journey if you stop to throw a stone at every dog that barks.” – Winston Churchill
- “Man will occasionally stumble over the truth, but most of the time he will pick himself up and continue on.” – Winston Churchill
- “The further backward you can look, the further forward you are likely to see.” – Winston Churchill
- “In finance, everything that is agreeable is unsound and everything that is sound is disagreeable.” – Winston Churchill
- “Let our advance worrying become advance thinking and planning.” – Winston Churchill
- “If you have ten thousand regulations, you destroy all respect for the law.” – Winston Churchill
- “I am prepared to meet my Maker. Whether my Maker is prepared for the great ordeal of meeting me is another matter.” – Winston Churchill
- “There is nothing more exhilarating than to be shot at without result.” – Winston Churchill
- “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.” – Winston Churchill
- “History is written by the victors.” – Winston Churchill
- “A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty.” – Winston Churchill
- “We are all worms, but I do believe that I am a glow-worm.” – Winston Churchill
- “For myself, I am an optimist – it does not seem to be much use being anything else.” – Winston Churchill
- “Democracy is the worst form of government, except for all the others.” – Winston Churchill
- “Nothing in life is so exhilarating as to be shot at without result.” – Winston Churchill
- “If we open a quarrel between past and present, we shall find that we have lost the future.” – Winston Churchill
- “It has been said that democracy is the worst form of government except all the others that have been tried.” – Winston Churchill
- “We make a living by what we get, but we make a life by what we give.” – Winston Churchill
- “A fanatic is one who can’t change his mind and won’t change the subject.” – Winston Churchill
- “To improve is to change; to be perfect is to change often.” – Winston Churchill
- “History will be kind to me for I intend to write it.” – Winston Churchill
- “You have enemies? Good. That means you’ve stood up for something, sometime in your life.” – Winston Churchill
- “The price of greatness is responsibility.” – Winston Churchill
- “Courage is what it takes to stand up and speak; courage is also what it takes to sit down and listen.” – Winston Churchill
- “We are masters of the unsaid words, but slaves of those we let slip out.” – Winston Churchill
- “An optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty; a pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity.” – Winston Churchill
- “A lie gets halfway around the world before the truth has a chance to get its pants on.” – Winston Churchill
- “It is always wise to look ahead, but difficult to look further than you can see.” – Winston Churchill
- “The farther backward you can look, the farther forward you are likely to see.” – Winston Churchill
- “Never in the field of human conflict was so much owed by so many to so few.” – Winston Churchill
- “Kites rise highest against the wind, not with it.” – Winston Churchill
- “To navigate the seas of change, one must be willing to lose sight of the shore of certainty.”- Winston Churchill
- “The best argument against democracy is a five-minute conversation with the average voter.” – Winston Churchill
- “To build may have to be the slow and laborious task of years. To destroy can be the thoughtless act of a single day.” – Winston Churchill
- “Success consists of going from failure to failure without loss of enthusiasm.” – Winston Churchill
- “In war, resolution; in defeat, defiance; in victory, magnanimity.” – Winston Churchill
- “The empires of the future are the empires of the mind.” – Winston Churchill
- “Solitary trees, if they grow at all, grow strong.” – Winston Churchill
- “Attitude is a little thing that makes a big difference.” – Winston Churchill
- “Difficulties mastered are opportunities won.” – Winston Churchill
