It is a socialist idea that making profits is a vice; I consider the real vice is making losses.
Winston ChurchillRead
One time he was asked if he believed in an afterlife. After a moment's hesitation he said no, that he thought there was only "some kind of velvety cool blackness," adding then: "Of course, I admit I may be wrong. It is conceivable that I might well be reborn as a Chinese coolie. In such case I should lodge a protest."
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote reflects on the uncertainty of life after death with a humorous twist on reincarnation.
In this quote, Winston Churchill expresses skepticism about the existence of an afterlife, describing it as a mysterious 'velvety cool blackness.' He humorously acknowledges that he could be wrong and entertains the notion of being reborn in an entirely different existence, which allows for a light-hearted reflection on the profound questions of life, death, and what lies beyond.
Themes
AfterlifeReincarnationHumorSkepticismPhilosophy
In practice
Example use cases
During a philosophical debate, you could use this quote to illustrate the uncertainty of beliefs about the afterlife.
More from Winston Churchill
All quotes →The United States is like a gigantic boiler. Once the fire is lit under it, there's no limit to the power it can generate.
Winston ChurchillRead
Politics is almost as exciting as war, and quite as dangerous. In war you can only be killed once, but in politics many times.
Winston ChurchillRead
I will not pretend that if I had to choose between communism and Nazism I would choose communism.
Winston ChurchillRead
Mountaintops inspire leaders but valleys mature them.
Winston ChurchillRead
True genius resides in the capacity for evaluation of uncertain, hazardous, and conflicting information.
Winston ChurchillRead
Similar quotes
We only make peace with our enemies. That's why it's called making peace.
George R. R. MartinRead
When the tyrant has disposed of foreign enemies by conquest...and there is nothing to fear from them, then he is always stirring up some war
PlatoRead
This, in fact, is the power of the imagination, which, combining the memory of gold with that of the mountain, can compose the idea of a golden mountain.
Umberto EcoRead
I don't think of the past. The only thing that matters is the everlasting present.
W. Somerset MaughamRead
I hold all knowledge that is concerned with things that actually exist - all that is commonly called Science - to be of very slight value compared to the knowledge which, like philosophy and mathematics, is concerned with ideal and eternal objects, and is freed from this miserable world which God has made.
Bertrand RussellRead
If Heaven and Earth are unable to persist, how could man?
LaoziRead