jpexg@mit-hermes.ARPA (John Purbrick) (03/14/85)
> > Does anyone have any other memorable quotes from the foremost speaker of > > English of the century? OK, here are some; first authentic quotes from the _Oxford Dictionary of Quotations_ (there are plenty more, if anyone cares to look): "There are few virtues that the Poles do not possess--and there are few mistakes they have ever avoided." (In Parliament, August 1945) "To jaw-jaw is better than to war-war." (Concerning Korean War negotiations) "Headmasters have powers at their disposal with which Prime Ministers have never yet been invested." (_My Early Life_) "When you have to kill a man it costs nothing to be polite." (On formal declarations of war) "In defeat, unbeatable; in victory, unbearable." (Montgomery) "Don't talk to me about 'naval tradition'. It's nothing but rum, sodomy and the lash." (He was 1st Lord of Admiralty in WW1) And here are some apocryphal ones, including one where someone got the better of him: Churchill: "How can anyone expect to govern a country that produces 80 kinds of cheese?" De Gaulle: "No, over 100." (Or some such large numbers.) Margot Asquith(?): "Winston, if you were my husband, I'd put poison in your coffee." Churchill: "And if you were my wife, Margot, I'd willingly drink it." On racism in the British Empire: "There is no reason why an Indian should not rise to the rank of Admiral in the Royal Navy." (aside) "But not too many of them, please." Churchill was an ardent anti-Communist, and he was accused of lukewarm support for Russia during WW2. He said, "That is false. If Hitler were to invade Hell, I'd find a good word to say for the Devil." John Purbrick decvax!genrad!mit-eddie!mit-hermes!jpexg jpexg@mit-hermes.ARPA