Winston Churchill Quotes
Negotiating is like trying to pick up mercury with a fork.
Winston Churchill, 1874-1965, British Prime Minister (Conservative), Quoted by Neil Jordan, Diary, September 7, 1995
Sourced by: Eigen's Political and Historical Quotations
He had little difficulty until he and the British Government announced the plan to grant independence to India. At that point the Muslim League came up with the notion of Partition of India which polarized the Indian politicians mostly along religious lines, and much of India was "up for grabs". No one wanted to concede anything to the other side as this might strengthen the other side's image of its power and just encourage them to go for more. Wavell's job became impossible.
DeKlerk had just become president of South Africa which was enmeshed in a brutal system of apartheid—racial separation with the 10% white population controlling the 90% black majority. The black political parties were illegal and net even recognized and there was no negotiation at all. The country was a world pariah, boycotted by many in the world including much of the Untied States. When De Klerk became president no one had any idea that he would make such a radical break with the past. However, he announced the lifting of the ban on the Black political parties, and the release of Nelson Mandela who had served 26 years in prison, and then made this famous statement which led to the modern state of South Africa. DeKlerk and Mandela shared the Nobel peace prize for their remarkable achievement.
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.
