Churchill reflecting on the need to fact-check his own speeches, as he considered whether he was the first to use the phrase unconditional surrender as a war aim.
The Second World War (Primary source)
Churchill’s six-volume memoir and history of World War II, chronicling his leadership as Britain’s wartime Prime Minister. Combining personal experience with strategic analysis, it covers major battles, diplomatic negotiations, and key decisions that shaped Allied victory. The work earned Churchill the Nobel Prize in Literature.
More about “The Second World War” →
“Give us the tools, and we will finish the job.”
— Winston Churchill Primary source“You do your worst—and we will do our best.”
— Winston Churchill Primary source“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“If you cannot read them [books], at any rate handle them and, as it were, fondle them. Peer into them. Let them fall open where they will. Read on from the first sentence that arrests the eye. Then turn to another. Make a voyage of discovery, taking soundings of uncharted seas. Set them back on their shelves with your own hands. Arrange them on your own plan, so that if you do not know what is in them, you at least know where they are. If they cannot be your friends, let them at any rate be your acquaintances. If they cannot enter the circle of your life, do not deny them at least a nod of recognition.”
— Winston Churchill Primary sourceMore quotes by Winston Churchill →
“Take counsel in wine, but resolve afterwards in water.”
— Benjamin Franklin Primary source“There is no little enemy.”
— Benjamin Franklin Primary source“Success is not final, failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that counts.”
— Winston Churchill Disputed“You may delay, but time will not.”
— Benjamin Franklin Primary source