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I feel a bit conflicted to write this collection of quotes. It makes us wonder if we do a fair job when we hail a few people as heroes in comparison with some of the atrocities linked to them. Although this is one such post, I wanted to write about it only from the point of how powerful some of these Winston Churchill quotes are.

If I take the person out of the frame and talk only about the value of these quotes, how they make us feel. Then perhaps I can appreciate this article at its best. I’m still unsure about how you feel about these quotes, but please do let me know in the comment section below.

With that background, I present a collection of 10 Winston Churchill quotes for you to peruse.

Success is not final, failure is not fatal, it is the courage to continue that counts – Winston Churchill

This is perhaps his most famous quote which keeps surfacing in multiple conversations. I like this quote because it highlights that both success and failure are fleeting. Sometimes success is hailed as an achievement that is hard to follow through on. The most important reason being, if there’s no journey after success – it’s pointless, isn’t it?

It is also the same point that John Wooden makes in his quote – success is a journey, not a destination. Humiliation might feel natural at any failure. But we ought to look at the purpose of it ultimately. Failure is only a message telling us that something is not right. Instead of trying to fix it, if we spend most of our time worrying about its impact, then we’re already losing time, aren’t we?

The most important thing for us is to be on the journey and constantly moving forward.

Success is not final, failure is not fatal, it is the courage to continue that counts

Winston Churchill Quotes (Source)

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

Failure is feedback! It is nothing more but an unfavourable outcome. Most of the problems we have are because of the way we look at a failure. Instead of defining failure as a way to move forward – somehow, there’s a tendency to take it personally.

I appreciate that failure hurts and it is painful. But that can’t be the final result. If so, there would be no journey. It is almost as if we’re saying that we get only one chance at anything in life. Isn’t that a lousy way to look at our opportunities? If it is only one chance at anything, it puts such high pressure on us to succeed all the time.

So what if we fail at a few things? Isn’t the point in just moving on forward?

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

Winston Churchill

To improve is to change; to be perfect is to change often

No one is born perfect. We all have to go through our journeys to achieve the goals and quests we are after. If we were born with all the skills necessary – it would be a simple task to achieve success and no wonder we would all be masters at it. 

But such is not the reality, it is a never-ending process of constant improvement. The moment we stop this improvement, we stop the growth and all associated benefits. 

If we keep the humility with us to constantly look out for feedback and keep adapting, we are constantly getting closer to our goals. With such a quest and attitude, we are never far from success. 

And what is perfection anyway? I would rather be successful than perfect! At times, it often makes me feel – perfection, meticulousness can sometimes be an unreal goal 

To improve is to change; to be perfect is to change often

Churchill Quotes

A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty – Churchill

It doesn’t matter if you are a pessimist or opportunist or even an optimist. The reality is a little objective and takes its own course.

Being a pessimist or optimist helps us look at things differently, And maybe yes, an optimist might see and try out a few more opportunities than a pessimist does. I would rather ask – which of these gives you the best opportunity to succeed in your quest? 

If the answer is being an optimist, then you are doing a great disservice by focusing on the negative aspects. 

If it is the other way round, I can certainly respect that, the bottom line is: We need to get to our endpoints and find the best route possible in the quickest time. The caveat, of course, is that we don’t take too many shortcuts, but then find the best way to tune your motivations so that you can be excited, and enthused to get to the final goals. 

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

Winston Churchill

This is no time for ease and comfort. It is time to dare and endure

Given a chance, I would easily rest, relax and take my time to achieve the things I want to. But the reality is – if at all there is one resource that is limited, it is TIME. I know we talk a lot about time management and the best ways to handle it. The only reason is that we all have a visible paucity of it. 

We can all take a break and relax – one day break doesn’t matter right? Just like the habit of discipline, the habit of rest also has a way to influence us. As long as we are in control, it is well worth doing that. 

The moment, it starts taking control over us – we need an intervention. It is almost like a cigarette addiction – after all, too much of anything is bad for us isn’t it? 

This is no time for ease and comfort. It is time to dare and endure

Winston Churchill Quotes

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

I like the balance in this quote, an analysis would naturally lead us to the point of constantly talking vs listening. Whether it is business or our real lives, we ought to maintain that fine balance between the two. 

If we just keep impressing our views, we can easily get sidetracked into a one-sided approach. Often a great deal of value is gained from the skill of listening too. Courage is not always about being an activist. 

Some may claim that being silent is being ok with things around us. Silence too has its value and what better quote to express it than the below: 

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

Winston Churchill

One ought never to turn one’s back on a threatened danger and try to run away from it. If you do that, you will double the danger. But if you meet it promptly and without flinching, you will reduce the danger by half – quotes by Winston Churchill

Face your fears: As Vivekananda said – face the brutes, I think we all have demons inside of us. Naturally, there are factors that scare us and we all have something or the other to lose which makes it human to be afraid. 

The question however is – how long are we willing to let fear drive us and push us away from the things we really want and desire? 

It is easy to let go and run away. It is easy to fight back too. I suppose it all comes down to the perception of where we stand and how equipped we feel to face these dangers. 

If we want to progress, we ought to find a way to face our fears and demons. After all, sometimes the best way is through these distractions. 

One ought never to turn one’s back on a threatened danger and try to run away from it. If you do that, you will double the danger. But if you meet it promptly and without flinching, you will reduce the danger by half

– quotes by Winston Churchill

Attitude is a little thing that makes a big difference

Attitude, perception and approach make a fair few appearances in Winston Churchill quotes. Rightly so, these are quotes of motivation, human will and the ability to face things as they come. 

We can either turn our back on difficulties or face them, our attitude dictates our approach and maybe, just maybe the results too. 

I think we all want to achieve our dreams, goals and desires. There are often blockers in the terms of resources, time and so many other distractions. If attitude too is one of the many reasons, we tend to face more hurdles than we really should to achieve our goals. 

Attitude is a little thing that makes a big difference

Churchill quotes

For myself I am an optimist – it does not seem to be much use being anything else – Winston Churchill

Maybe being an optimist or a pessimist doesn’t have to do anything with the results. However, it is our focus that matters the most. Both views provide us with data, we have to decide how to use them the best.

The most valuable advice I ever received was – I don’t care whether you are a pessimist or an optimist. The question is – what are you going to do about it? Ultimately it is our actions that give us results – not mere thoughts. So, if you’re beating yourself down because you’re a pessimist, maybe it is time to step out of the habit of being a victim and create what you truly want and deserve.

For myself I am an optimist – it does not seem to be much use being anything else

– Winston Churchill

If you’re going through hell, keep going

Life is harsh – it was never meant to be easy. Some of these complications are created by our own goals and unreasonable standards to be happy. Happiness need not be difficult and can be unrelated to our goals and achievement.

If you focus on the goals alone, this quote makes you think about the difficulties and challenges in achieving these goals. It is naive to think that things will magically work out. I used to do this when I was younger – completely avoid all negative scenarios so that I could be motivated.

But mere motivation cost me quite a bit since I failed to recognise how important failures are. They not only elevated my views but forced me to be objective. ‘How to get over failure‘ is an awful statement or question because it is not something to get over, it is an outcome to embrace and use as valuable feedback. Whether it is hell or not, if your goals change, efforts or approach should or else it is insane to keep doing the same thing and expect different results.

If you’re going through hell, keep going

Every day you may make progress. Every step may be fruitful. Yet there will stretch out before you an ever-lengthening, ever-ascending, ever-improving path.

Success or failure is a journey – it happens on a daily basis. It is our habits and processes that define success and failure. I was reading James Clear’s Atomic habits – I love the point and focus on efforts, processes rather than mere results and outcomes. These results have a way of tempting us to forget all the effort that has gone into create success.

Every day is an opportunity to do something – if we don’t move ahead, we will move back. That’s the simple plain truth. Excellence and success will not happen automatically. We ought to make that happen. If life is a marathon, you got to get up everyday and keep training yourself. The same applies to any goals that might drive you forward.

Every day you may make progress. Every step may be fruitful. Yet there will stretch out before you an ever-lengthening, ever-ascending, ever-improving path. You know you will never get to the end of the journey. But this, so far from discouraging, only adds to the joy and glory of the climb