Sir Winston Spencer Churchill

The greatest man of the 20th Century...

Note - There are links to RealAudio sound clips [ RealPlayer required - you can get it here ] of some of his famous War Time speeches further down the page [ click here ].

He was not perfect (show me a man who was) but, as in all rare gems, the flaws enhanced rather than detracted.

As a child he was troublesome.

He was not a stellar student and his early political affiliations were, to say the least, fickle. Regarding his party changes he remarked that anyone could "rat", but it required a certain talent to "re-rat".

But when the very existence of the free world was threatened by Hitler and his Nazi terror Churchill rose to the challenge as Britain's Tory Prime Minister.

The oft seen pictures of "Winnie" with his cigar and "V" for Victory came to exemplify the unflagging spirit of Britain in her "Darkest Hour".

His brilliant speeches were inspired and inspirational. His style as an orator was peerless, and I doubt that anyone who ever heard him speak will forget the power of his delivery. Listen to some of those speeches...

May 19, 1940: In a national radio address, Winston Churchill spoke to the British people for the first time as prime minister. [ Listen ]

June 4, 1940: The famous "Fight on the Beaches" speech delivered before the House of Commons regarding the demise of France and the low countries, the debacle at Dunkirk and the egress of the British Expeditionary Force from the European mainland, and the readiness and resolve of Britain to resist invasion. [ Listen ]

June 18, 1940: Inaugurates the Battle of Britain with the speech containing these famous words "Let us therefore brace ourselves to our duty, 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.'" [ Listen ]

August 20, 1940: The famous "Never was so much owed by so many to so few" speech, delivered before the House of Commons, especially regarding air attacks upon Great Britain, Lend-Lease and the bleak situation on the European continent. [ Listen ]

November 29, 1941: An address before the faculty and students of Harrow School describing what Britain had recently gone through and what loomed before her. Renowned for its "Never give in!" passage and his rewriting of a verse added to Harrow's school song in Churchill's honor. [ Listen ]

Politician, Statesman, Warrior, Author, Painter and Bricklayer - he was an intriguing, multi-faceted individual...

But for me, apart from the man's indomitable spirit, it is his enormous talent as a word-smith that I most admire.

If you have ever read any of his historical works or listened to any of his stirring speeches surely you have been as awed as I at the man's uncanny ability to use his mother tongue to its fullest.

His war time speeches were masterpieces, and in one of his post war speeches (Westminster College - Fulton, Missouri - March 5,1946), with typical oratorical skills, Churchill introduced the phrase "Iron Curtain" to describe the division between Western powers and the area controlled by the Soviet Union. As such the speech marked the onset of the Cold War, and the phrase became a part of our culture.

There are so many "quotable quotes" that it is difficult to choose only a few to include here, but some of my favourites, both frivolous and serious, include:

My most brilliant achievement was my ability to be able to persuade my wife to marry me.
In those days he was wiser than he is now - he used frequently to take my advice.
Without tradition, art is a flock of sheep without a shepherd. Without innovation, it is a corpse.
The inherent vice of capitalism is the unequal sharing of blessings; the inherent vice of socialism is the equal sharing of miseries.
When I am abroad, I always make it a rule to never criticize or attack the government of my own country. I make up for lost time when I come home.
I have never accepted what many people have kindly said - namely that I inspired the nation. Their will was resolute and remorseless, and as it proved, unconquerable. It fell to me to express it.
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.
Personally, I'm always ready to learn, although I do not always like being taught.
I'm just preparing my impromptu remarks.
It is a good thing for an uneducated man to read a book of quotations.
Out of intense complexities intense simplicities emerge.
If you have an important point to make, don't try to be subtle or clever. Use the pile driver. Hit the point once. Then come back and hit it again. Then hit it a third time; a tremendous whack.
If we open a quarrel between the past and the present, we shall find we have lost the future.
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.
I have never developed indigestion from eating my words.

And of course for pure fun there is the often quoted line concerning the grammatical rule stating that one should never end a sentence with a preposition, about which Churchill remarked "This is something up with which I will not put!".

There is far too much to say about this wonderful man. Even an encapsulated biography would fill pages - but should you be interested you can find a wealth of information at the following sites (just click on the links below):