Ranger Archive

1. It has been said that democracy is the worst form of government except all the others that have been tried

2. An appeaser is one who feeds a crocodile - hoping it will eat him last.

3. A fanatic is one who can't change his mind and won't change the subject.

4. All great things are simple, and many can be expressed in single words: freedom, justice, honor, duty, mercy, hope

5. One ought never to turn one's back on a threatened danger and try to run away from it. If you do that, you will double the danger. But if you meet it promptly and without flinching, you will reduce the danger by half.

6. Never, never, never believe any war will be smooth and easy, or that anyone who embarks on the strange voyage can measure the tides and hurricanes he will encounter. The statesman who yields to war fever must realize that once the signal is given, he is no longer the master of policy but the slave of unforeseeable and uncontrollable events.

7. 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

8. A love of tradition has never weakened a nation, indeed it has strengthened nations in their hour of peril; but the new view must come, the world must roll forward.

9. 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. Never yield to force; never yield to the apparently overwhelming might of the enemy

10. Although prepared for martyrdom, I preferred that it be postponed.

11. Battles are won by slaughter and maneuver. The greater the general, the more he contributes in maneuver, the less he demands in slaughter.

12. 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.

13. If the human race wishes to have a prolonged and indefinite period of material prosperity, they have only got to behave in a peaceful and helpful way toward one another.

14. It may be that we shall by a process of sublime irony have reached a stage in this story where safety will be the sturdy child of terror, and survival the twin brother of annihilation.

15. It was the nation and the race dwelling all round the globe that had the lion's heart. I had the luck to be called upon to give the roar.

16. Let us therefore brace ourselves to our duty and so bear ourselves that if the British Empire and its Commonwealth lasts for a thousand years men will still say, "This was their finest hour."

17. The maxim of the British people is "Business as usual."

18. These are not dark days: these are great days - the greatest days our country has ever lived.

19. To build may have to be the slow and laborious task of years. To destroy can be the thoughtless act of a single day.

20. 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.

21. We shall defend our island, whatever the cost may be, we shall fight on the beaches, we shall fight on the landing grounds, we shall fight in the fields and in the streets, we shall fight in the hills; we shall never surrender.

22. You can always count on Americans to do the right thing - after they've tried everything else.

23. You have enemies? Good. That means you've stood up for something, sometime in your life.

All - Sir Winston Churchill.