“Many remedies are suggested for the avoidance of worry and mental overstrain by persons who, over prolonged periods, have to bear exceptional responsibilities and discharge duties upon a very large scale. Some advise exercise, and others, repose. Some counsel travel, and others, retreat. Some praise solitude, and others, gaiety. No doubt all these may play their part according to the individual temperament. But the element which is constant and common in all of them is Change.”
Winston Churchill
Painting as a Pastime (Primary source)
Churchill’s slender volume on the therapeutic powers of amateur painting stands as a compelling meditation on the nature of genuine respite from the burdens of public life. Writing with characteristic vigor and psychological acuity, Churchill advances a proposition at once simple and profound: that true relaxation demands not mere cessation of activity, but rather a fundamental reorientation of mental energy.
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“Never give in—never, never, never, never, in nothing great or small, large or petty, never give in except to convictions of honour and good sense.”
— Winston Churchill Primary source“You do your worst—and we will do our best.”
— Winston Churchill Primary source“Give us the tools, and we will finish the job.”
— Winston Churchill Primary source“I fight for my corner. I leave when the pub closes.”
— Winston Churchill Secondary sourceMore quotes by Winston Churchill →
“The courage, the unconquerable grit and stamina of our people, showed itself from the very outset. Without that all would have failed. Upon that rock, all stood unshakable.”
— Winston Churchill Primary source“Many computer programs of the present day are of inordinate size—many thousands of pages of closely printed text. Mathematics has no tradition of dealing with expressions on this scale.”
— Tony Hoare Primary source“Part of what you must learn is how to handle mistakes and new facts that change the odds. Life, in part, is like a poker game, wherein you have to learn to quit sometimes when holding a much-loved hand.”
— Charlie Munger Primary source“I am sure it would be sensible to restrict as much as possible the work of these gentlemen [psychologists and psychiatrists], who are capable of doing an immense amount of harm with what may very easily degenerate into charlatanry.”
— Winston Churchill Primary source