It is a socialist idea that making profits is a vice; I consider the real vice is making losses.
It is remarkable that Lord Esher should be so much astray...We must conclude that an uncontrollable fondness for fiction forbade him to forsake it for fact. Such constancy is a defect in an historian.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote critiques an historian's tendency to prioritize fiction over factual accuracy, highlighting the importance of truth in history.
Winston Churchill points out a flaw in the character of Lord Esher, suggesting that his unwavering preference for fiction over factual truth undermines his credibility as a historian. Churchill implies that historians should anchor their interpretations in reality to provide an accurate account of events rather than being swayed by personal biases or romanticized narratives. This statement emphasizes the importance of integrity and truthfulness in the pursuit of historical knowledge.
Themes
In practice
Example use cases
In a classroom discussion about the importance of factual integrity in history.
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.
Politics is almost as exciting as war, and quite as dangerous. In war you can only be killed once, but in politics many times.
I will not pretend that if I had to choose between communism and Nazism I would choose communism.
Mountaintops inspire leaders but valleys mature them.
True genius resides in the capacity for evaluation of uncertain, hazardous, and conflicting information.
Similar quotes
Overcome the angry by non-anger; overcome the wicked by goodness; overcome the miser by generosity; overcome the liar by truth.
I have need of angels. Enough hell has swallowed me for too many years. But finally understand this--I have burned up one hundred thousand human lives already, from the strength of my pain.
The best stock a man can invest in, is the stock of a farm; the best shares are plow shares; and the best banks are the fertile banks of a rural stream; the more these are broken the better dividends they pay.
He was one of those men who possess almost every gift, except the gift of the power to use them.
Suppose you read about a pill that you could take once a day to reduce anxiety and increase your contentment. Would you take it? Suppose further that the pill has a great variety of side effects, all of them good: increased self-esteem, empathy, and trust; it even improves memory. Suppose, finally, that the pill is all natural and costs nothing. Now would you take it? The pill exists. It is meditation.
Data is not information, Information is not knowledge, Knowledge is not understanding, Understanding is not wisdom.