Darkest hour

 

Then out spake brave Horatius,
The Captain of the gate:
“To every man upon this earth
Death cometh soon or late.
And how can man die better
Than facing fearful odds
For the ashes of his fathers
And the temples of his gods…”

—Thomas Babington Macaulay

 

Winston Churchill: Success is not final, failure is not fatal, it is the courage to continue that counts.


Winston Churchill: Turning once again to the question of invasion I would observe that there has never been a period in all these long centuries of which we boast, when an absolute guarantee against invasion could have been given to our people. I have, myself full confidence that if all do their duty, if nothing is neglected, and if the best arrangements are made, as they are being made, we shall prove ourselves once more able to defend our island home, to ride out the storm of war, and to outlive the menace of tyranny if necessary for years, if necessary alone. At any rate, that is what we are going to try to do. That is the resolve of His Majesty's Government every man of them. That is the will of Parliament and the nation. The British Empire and the French Republic, linked together in their cause and in their need, will defend to the death their native soil, aiding each other like good comrades to the utmost of their strength. Even though large tracts of Europe and many old and famous States have fallen or may fall into the grip of the Gestapo and all the odious apparatus of Nazi rule, we shall not flag or fail. We shall go on to the end. We shall fight in France, we shall fight on the seas and oceans, we shall fight with growing confidence and growing strength in the air, 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, and if, which I do not for a moment believe, this island or a large part of it were subjugated and starving, then our Empire beyond the seas, armed and guarded by the British Fleet, would carry on the struggle, until, in God's good time, the New World, with all its power and might, steps forth to the rescue and the liberation of the old!


Winston Churchill: I have nothing to offer but blood, toil, tears and sweat.

Viscount Halifax: He mobilized the English language and sent it into battle.



King George VI: One never knows what's going to come out of your mouth next. Something that'll flatter, something that'll wound.

Winston Churchill: My emotions are unbridled. A wildness. In the blood. I share with my father. And my mother also. We lack the gift of temperance.