Quotes About Determination

The reading of history very soon made me feel that I was capable of achieving as much as the men who are placed in the highest ranks of our annals.

Many people say I ought to have retired after the war, and have become some sort of elder statesman, but how could I? I have fought all my life and cannot give up fighting now!

Churchill's post-war bodyguard, Ron Golding, who was an RAF squadron leader in 1940, recalled, 'After those speeches, we wanted the Germans to come.

pluck, courage, resourcefulness

Tuve la impresión de hallarme en sintonía con el destino y de que toda mi vida pasada no había sido sino un largo preparativo para esta hora y para esta prueba [...]. No se me podía reprochar ni que hubiera declarado la guerra ni que me faltara preparación para librarla. Pensé que sabía muchas cosas sobre el particular, y estaba seguro de que no iba a fracasar».

Without all this self-control, do you think I could have done all I've done?33

Andrew Roberts

Andrew Roberts

not to threaten to resign unless one is prepared to go into the wilderness.

The neglect and emotional cruelty at the hands of his parents that could have crushed a lesser person instead gave Churchill an unquenchable desire to succeed in life, not only in general but in his father's chosen profession of politics.

Andrew Roberts

I have ruined, perhaps, my political career. But that is a little matter; I have retained something which is to me of great value Ã¢â'¬â€œ I can still walk about the world with my head erect.'235 'My dear Duff,' Churchill wrote to him, 'Your speech was one of the finest Parliamentary performances I have ever heard. It was admirable in form, massive in argument and shone with courage and public spirit.'236

By the outbreak of the Second World War, Churchill had made about 1,700 speeches and travelled about 82,000 miles – over three times the circumference of the earth – to deliver them. It was an extraordinary display of energy, far more than normal politicians even of the front rank. He had become a vastly experienced and assured public speaker, capable of gauging any audience in an instant.

the message 'Stay put' which would be sent out by the Ministry of Information in the event of a German invasion. 'First of all, it is American slang; secondly, it does not express the fact. The people have not been "put" anywhere. What is the matter with "Stand fast", or "Stand firm"? Of the two I prefer the latter.

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.

The reasonable man adapts himself to the world,' George Bernard Shaw wrote in 'The Revolutionist's Handbook'; 'the unreasonable one persists in trying to adapt the world to himself. Therefore all progress depends on the unreasonable man.

But what has been begun must be carried through.'86

Though he was eighteen months younger than Joseph, Napoleon was always stronger-willed.)

The future is a matter of contempt for those with courage. - Napoleon Bonaparte.

Paralyzing fear. Nothing for you to worry about.

He accepted it, walked over to the monster, and stabbed it a dozen times. "Dead," he pronounced, and walked back over.

Hope can be a source of strength, but when it fails to deliver what I want, I've found a good degree of stubbornness to be an appropriate substitute.

Words without action behind them are about as useful as an empty cup in the hands of a man dying of thirst.

I don't know why I have a pattern of running into hand-destroying situations, but that seems to be my lot in life. Maybe I need to figure out how to make magical prosthetics. I should research that later.