During his army career, Churchill saw military action in India, the Sudan and the Second Boer War. He gained fame and notoriety as a war correspondent and through contemporary books he wrote describing the campaigns. He also served briefly in the British Army on the Western Front in World War I, commanding the 6th Battalion of the Royal Scots Fusiliers.

At the forefront of the political scene for almost fifty years, he held many political and cabinet positions. Before the First World War, he served as President of the Board of Trade, Home Secretary and First Lord of the Admiralty as part of the Asquith Liberal government. During the war he continued as First Lord of the Admiralty until the disastrous Gallipoli Campaign caused his departure from government. He returned as Minister of Munitions, Secretary of State for War and Secretary of State for Air. In the interwar years, he served as Chancellor of the Exchequer in the Conservative government.

After the outbreak of the Second World War, Churchill was again appointed First Lord of the Admiralty. Following the resignation of Neville Chamberlain on 10 May 1940, he became Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and led Britain to victory against the Axis powers. Churchill was always noted for his speeches, which became a great inspiration to the British people and to the embattled Allied forces.

After losing the 1945 election, he became Leader of the Opposition. In 1951 he again became Prime Minister, before finally retiring in 1955. Upon his death, the Queen granted him the honour of a state funeral, which saw one of the largest assemblies of statesmen in the world.

1. A fanatic is one who can’t change his mind and won’t change the subject.

2. A lie gets halfway around the world before the truth has a chance to get its pants on.

3. A man does what he must – in spite of personal consequences, in spite of obstacles and dangers and pressures – and that is the basis of all human morality.

4. A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty.

5. A prisoner of war is a man who tries to kill you and fails, and then asks you not to kill him.

6. All the great things are simple, and many can be expressed in a single word: freedom, justice, honor, duty, mercy, hope.

7. Although personally I am quite content with existing explosives, I feel we must not stand in the path of improvement.

8. Attitude is a little thing that makes a big difference.

9. Continuous effort – not strength or intelligence – is the key to unlocking our potential.

10. Courage is rightly esteemed the first of human qualities… because it is the quality which guarantees all others.

11. Courage is what it takes to stand up and speak; courage is also what it takes to sit down and listen.

12. Criticism may not be agreeable, but it is necessary. It fulfills the same function as pain in the human body. It calls attention to an unhealthy state of things.

13. Healthy citizens are the greatest asset any country can have.

14. I am fond of pigs. Dogs look up to us. Cats look down on us. Pigs treat us as equals.

15. I never worry about action, but only inaction.

16. 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.

17. If you are going through hell, keep going.

18. If you have an important point to make, don’t try to be subtle or clever. Use a pile driver. Hit the point once. Then come back and hit it again. Then hit it a third time – a tremendous whack.

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

20. It is a mistake to look too far ahead. Only one link of the chain of destiny can be handled at a time.

21. Meeting Franklin Roosevelt was like opening your first bottle of champagne; knowing him was like drinking it.

22. Now this is not the end. It is not even the beginning of the end. But it is, perhaps, the end of the beginning.

23. Success consists of going from failure to failure without loss of enthusiasm.

24. We make a living by what we get, but we make a life by what we give.

25. We occasionally stumble over the truth but most of us pick ourselves up and hurry off as if nothing had happened.

26. We shall draw from the heart of suffering itself the means of inspiration and survival.