Winston Churchill Quotes
Always remember, however sure you are that you could easily win, that there would not be a war if the other man did not think he also had a chance.
Churchill, Winston S. My Early Life: A Roving Commission. Thornton Butterworth, 1930, p. 232.
At the time, some House Republicans had taken an untenable and unpopular position and forced the government to shut down by not passing laws authorizing the expenditures. He had been asked his advice for President Obama who seemed to be winning this particular political squabble.
His appeal was also in the name of concurring heads of state of Finland, Holland, Denmark, Norway, Luxemburg, and Sweden.
When there is a serious problem with another country and it appears that military force may have to be used, he and most sophisticated policy makers argue that we should always try diplomacy first. If that does not work, then the military option is still open. If it does work, war or other military action is always available as an option. When politicians do not want to try diplomacy, it is usually that they have an ulterior motive for war and/or military force. Some urge caution with this principle in all cases as sometimes it gives the enemy time to regroup and rearm and he gets stronger by stringing out the negotiations with no intention of a diplomatic solution. In some other cases, as Iran in the second decade of the 21st century when they were suspected of developing a nuclear weapon. The Israeli right wing and some American conservatives wanted no delay in use of military force as that might allow the Iranians to complete an operational message. President Obama and most Americans favored strong economic sanctions with diplomacy first.
Sir Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill, KG, OM, CH, TD, DL, FRS, RA was the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1940 to 1945, during the Second World War, and again from 1951 to 1955. Apart from two years between 1922 and 1924, Churchill was a Member of Parliament (MP) from 1900 to 1964 and represented a total of five constituencies. Ideologically an economic liberal and imperialist, he was for most of his career a member of the Conservative Party, as leader from 1940 to 1955. He was a member of the Liberal Party from 1904 to 1924. Churchill was also well known for his military career and as a historian, painter and writer, and among his many awards was the Nobel Prize in Literature.
