To improve is to change, so to be perfect is to have changed often. — Winston Churchill, “His complete speeches, 1897-1963”

My Take – Our opinions, our beliefs, our knowledge must always be changing and growing.  When we refuse to listen and learn, we no longer have the ability to find solutions.

Occasionally he stumbled over the truth, but hastily picked himself up and hurried on as if nothing had happened. — On Stanley Baldwin, as cited in Churchill by Himself (2008)

My Take – This can probably be said about all politicians, professional and amateur.

Truth is incontrovertible. Panic may resent it, ignorance may deride it, malice may distort it, but there it is.– Speech in the House of Commons, May 17, 1916

My Take – The truth can be spun, colored, twisted, ignored, and lied about.  But if you dig deep enough, you will find it.

An appeaser is one who feeds a crocodile — hoping it will eat him last. — In Reader’s Digest (December 1954)

Now this is not the end. It is not even the beginning of the end. But it is, perhaps, the end of the beginning. — speech at Lord Mayor’s Luncheon, Mansion House, London, November 10, 1942

My Take – This.

 Dictators ride to and fro on tigers from which they dare not dismount. And the tigers are getting hungry. — “Armistice – or Peace?”, published in The Evening Standard (11 November 1937)

My Take – November is coming, and I can feel my stomach growling.

“When I warned [the French] that Britain would fight on alone, whatever they did, their Generals told their Prime Minister and his divided cabinet: ‘In three weeks, England will have her neck wrung like a chicken.  Some chicken! Some neck! — speech before Joint Session of the Canadian Parliament, Ottawa (December 30, 1941)

My Take – Britain fought a holding action in France after the French surrendered and left behind a trove of men and materielle on the beaches as they evacuated the BEF.  Anyone looking at the situation then would have thought that Britain would sue for peace.  Britain held out and defiantly dared Hitler to try to cross the English Channel.  When the United States entered the war, Britain was a pivotal part of preparation and planning for the liberation of Europe, and British soldiers, sailors, and airmen were a crucial part of the war and its aftermath.

Never listen to those who say you can’t succeed.  In life, there will always be those who look at your efforts and your plans and tell you that it will come to ruin.  As much as you can, disregard them and keep plugging away.  It will usually be difficult, and it will rarely be fun, but with enough effort, talent, and luck, you will succeed.

We shall not fail or falter; we shall not weaken or tire. Neither the sudden shock of battle, nor the long-drawn trials of vigilance and exertion will wear us down. Give us the tools and we will finish the job. — BBC radio broadcast, February 9, 1941

My Take – So long as I can think, speak, and type, I will not be silent.  So long as I have the ability to tell right from wrong, I will strive to be right.

Be the ordeal sharp or long, or both, we shall seek no terms, we shall tolerate no parlay; we may show mercy – we shall ask for none. — BBC Broadcast, London, July 14, 1940

Never in the field of human conflict was so much owed by so many to so few. — Speech in the House of Commons, also known as “The Few”

My Take – I know it’s a cliche, but our freedom and safety is guarded by a very thin line of humanity that faces outward from the communal fire.  We all are responsible for ourselves, but there those who take on responsibility for the entire tribe, even at the expense of their own safety.  Sometimes it’s a group of very brave pilots that keep bombers from roaming freely over the night sky.  Sometimes it’s a couple of police who go into a bad neighborhood every night trying to make sure that decent people don’t become prey.  In any case, we all owe a lot to a very small minority in our society.