Biografie

Nancy Astor once said to him, "If I was your wife I'd poison your coffee!" He replied, "If I was your husband I'd drink it".

Credited with this exchange with Bessie Braddock: "Winston, you are drunk, and what's more, you are disgustingly drunk"; "Bessie, my dear, you are ugly, and what's more, you are disgustingly ugly. But tomorrow I shall be sober, and you will still be disgustingly ugly".

Early in his life, he briefly worked as a greeting card designer for Hallmark.

Almost missed proposing to Clementine Ogilvy. He had promised to take her for a walk around the Blenheim Palace grounds, then overslept. His cousin Charles took Clementine for a carriage ride to prevent her from leaving, and sent a servant to roust Churchill out of bed.

All members of the Churchill family had animal nicknames. Wife Clementine was "Cat", son Randolph was "Rabbit", daughter Mary was "Mouse".

[commenting on the Battle of Britain] Never in the field of human conflict was so much owed by so many to so few.

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, we shall fight in the hills, we shall never surrender.

[(speech, 30 March 1940)] Although the fate of Poland stares them in the face, there are thoughtless dilettanti or purblind wordlings who sometimes ask us, "What is it that Britain and France are fighting for?" To this I answer, "If we left off fighting you would soon find out!"

Golf is a game whose aim it is to hit a very small ball into an even smaller hole with weapons singularly ill-designed for the purpose.

History will be kind to me for I intend to write it.