It is a socialist idea that making profits is a vice; I consider the real vice is making losses.
Winston ChurchillRead
The enemy is still proud and powerful. He is hard to get at. He still possesses enormous armies, vast resources, and invaluable strategic territories...No one can tell what new complications and perils might arise in four or five more years of war. And it is in the dragging-out of the war at enormous expense, until the democracies are tired or bored or split that the main hopes of Germany and Japan must reside.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote emphasizes the ongoing strength and resilience of the enemy in a protracted conflict.
Winston Churchill's quote highlights the formidable nature of the enemy, acknowledging their considerable resources and strategic advantages. It suggests that the prolongation of war could lead to eventual fatigue or division among democracies, which could ultimately favor the adversaries. Thus, the real danger lies not only in their current power but in the potential for exhaustion and fragmentation over time.
Themes
WarEnemyPowerDemocracyStrategy
In practice
Example use cases
This quote could be used in a speech about the necessity of resolve in prolonged conflicts.
More from Winston Churchill
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Politics is almost as exciting as war, and quite as dangerous. In war you can only be killed once, but in politics many times.
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I will not pretend that if I had to choose between communism and Nazism I would choose communism.
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Mountaintops inspire leaders but valleys mature them.
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True genius resides in the capacity for evaluation of uncertain, hazardous, and conflicting information.
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