Winston Churchill Quotes on History (9 Quotes)

History unfolds itself by strange and unpredictable paths. We have little control over the future and none at all over the past.

History with its flickering lamp stumbles along the trail of the past, trying to reconstruct its scenes, to revive its echoes, and kindle with pale gleams the passion of former days. What is the worth of all this The only guide to a man is his conscience the only shield to his memory is the rectitude and sincerity of his actions. It is very imprudent to walk through life without this shield, because we are so often mocked by the failure of our hopes and the upsetting of our calculations but with this shield, however the fate may play, we march always in the ranks of honor.

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

Study history, study history. In history lies all the secrets of statecraft.

Tell them from me they are unloading history.

Do not let us speak of darker days, let us speak rather of sterner days. These are not dark days these are great daysthe greatest days our country has ever lived and we must all thank God that we have been allowed, each of us according to our stations, to play a part in making these days memorable in the history of our race.

History is written by the victors.

For my part, I consider that it will be found much better by all parties to leave the past to history, especially as I propose to write that history myself.

History's villains are more easily recognized in retrospect. In an article published in 1935 and reprinted in 1937, Winston Churchill expressed a curious ambivalence towards the German chancellor prior to the outbreak of war We cannot tell whether Hitler will be the man who will once again let loose upon the world another war in which civilization will irretrievably succumb, or whether he will go down in history as the man who restored honour and peace of mind to the great Germanic nation....