Winston Churchill Military Quotations

I never worry about action, but only inaction.

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

Never in the field of human conflict was so much owed by so many to so few.

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

Without tradition, art is a flock of sheep without a shepherd. Without innovation, it is a corpse.

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

I have taken more out of alcohol than alcohol has taken out of me.

It is more agreeable to have the power to give than to receive.

Too often the strong, silent man is silent only because he does not know what to say, and is reputed strong only because he has remained silent.

The power of an air force is terrific when there is nothing to oppose it.

It is a good thing for an uneducated man to read books of quotations.

For good or for ill, air mastery is today the supreme expression of military power and fleets and armies, however vital and important, must accept a subordinate rank.

I have been brought up and trained to have the utmost contempt for people who get drunk.

Renown awaits the commander who first restores artillery to its prime importance on the battlefield.

Air power can either paralyze the enemy's military action or compel him to devote to the defense of his bases and communications a share of his straitened resources far greater that what we need in the attack.

The Navy can lose us the war, but only the Air Force can win it. Therefore our supreme effort must be to gain overwhelming mastery in the Air. The Fighters are our salvation . . . but the Bombers alone provide the means of victory. . . . In no other way at present visible can we hope to overcome the immense military power of Germany.

It seems to me that the moment has come when the question of bombing of German cities simply for the sake of increasing the terror, though under other pretexts, should be reviewed. Otherwise we shall come into control of an utterly ruined land . . . The destruction of Dresden remains a serious query against the conduct of Allied bombing . . . I feel the need for more precise concentration upon military objectives, such as oil and communications behind the immediate battle-zone, rather than on mere acts of terror and wanton destruction, however impressive.

We have a very daring and skillful opponent against us, and, may I say across the havoc of war, a great general.

I have not always been wrong. History will bear me out, particularly as I shall write that history myself.

In defeat, unbeatable; in victor, unbearable

Indomitable in retreat, invincible in advance; insufferable in victory.

I am sure that the mistakes of that time will not be repeated; we should probably make another set of mistakes.

I'm going to make a long speech because I've not had the time to prepare a short one.

Little did we guess that what has been called the century of the common man would witness as its outstanding feature more common men killing each other with greater facilities than any other five centuries together in the history of the world.

If, however, there is to be a war of nerves let us make sure our nerves are strong and are fortified by the deepest convictions of our hearts.

No two on earth in all things can agree. All have some daring singularity.

Arm yourselves, and be ye men of valor, and be in readiness for the conflict; for it is better for us to perish in battle than to look upon the outrage of our nation and our altar.

No matter how enmeshed a commander becomes in the elaboration of his own thoughts, it is sometimes necessary to take the enemy into account.

Democracy is the best form of the worst type of government

We shall defend our island whatever the cost may be; we shall fight on beaches, landing grounds, in fields, in streets and on the hills. We shall never surrender and even if, which I do not for the 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, will carry on the struggle until in God's good time the New World with all its power and might, sets forth to the liberation and rescue of the Old.

A study of Disease-of Pestilences methodically prepared and deliberately launched upon man and beast-is certainly being pursue in the laboratories of more than one great country. Blight to destroy crops, Anthrax to slay horses and cattle, Plague to poison not armies but whole districts - such are the lines along which military science is remorselessly advancing.

Air power may either end war or end civilization.

Always remember, a cat looks down on man, a dog looks up to man, but a pig will look man right in the eye and see his equal.

One day President Roosevelt told me that he was asking publicly for suggestions about what the war should be called. I said at once 'The Unnecessary War'.

There is at least one thing worse than fighting with allies - And that is to fight without them

No folly is more costly than the folly of intolerant idealism.

Give us the tools, and we will finish the job

They feed the crocodile in the hope that he will eat them last.

Air superiority is the ultimate expression of military power.

Not to have an adequate air force in the present state of the world is to compromise the foundations of national freedom and independence.

Sure I am this day we are masters of our fate, that the task which has been set before us is not above our strength; that its pangs and toils are not beyond our endurance. As long as we have faith in our own cause and an unconquerable will to win, victory will not be denied us.

I was not the lion, but it fell to me to give the lion's roar.

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.

It has not fallen to your lot to command great armies. You had to create them, organize them and inspire them.

You may have to fight when there is no hope of victory, because it is better to perish than live as slaves.

it so often happens that, when men are convinced that they have to die, a desire to bear themselves well and to leave life's stage with dignity conquers all other sensations.

In Critical and baffling situations, it is always best to return to first principle and simple action

Air power is the most difficult of military force to measure or even express in precise terms.