It is a socialist idea that making profits is a vice; I consider the real vice is making losses.
Winston ChurchillRead
We used to be a source of fuel; we are increasingly becoming a sink. These supplies of foreign liquid fuel are no doubt vital to our industry, but our ever-increasing dependence upon them ought to arouse serious and timely reflection. The scientific utilisation, by liquefaction, pulverisation and other processes, or our vast and magnificent deposits of coal, constitutes a national object of prime importance.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote reflects on the shift from being self-sufficient in energy to relying on external sources, emphasizing the importance of utilizing domestic resources.
Winston Churchill's quote highlights the concern over growing dependence on foreign fuel supplies, warning that reliance can undermine national strength and self-sufficiency. He urges for a focus on the responsible and innovative use of domestic coal resources, which he considers crucial for a nation's progress and security.
Themes
FuelDependencyInnovationResourcesCoal
In practice
Example use cases
In a sustainability conference, to emphasize the need for energy independence.
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
I am misanthropos, and hate mankind, For thy part, I do wish thou wert a dog, That I might love thee something.
William ShakespeareRead
The greatest dread of ordinary man is death, with its rude imposition interrupting fortuitous plans and fondest attachments with an unknown and unwelcome change. The yogi is a conqueror of the grief associated with death. By control of mind and life force and the development of wisdom, he makes friends with the change of consciousness called death-he becomes familiar with the state of inner calmness and aloofness from identification with the mortal body.
Paramahansa YoganandaRead
It is only by the abolition of the State, by the conquest of perfect liberty by the individual, by free agreement, association, and absolute free federation that we can reach Communism — the possession in common of our social inheritance, and the production in common of all riches.
Peter KropotkinRead
If life was an arc of light that began in darkness, ended in darkness, the first part of his life had happened in ordinary glare. Here it was as though he had found a polarized lens that deepened and intensified all seen through it.
Annie ProulxRead
It does not matter what country we live in, who our leaders are, or even who we are. Because we are human, we therefore have rights. And because we have rights, governments are bound to protect them.
Hillary ClintonRead
America did not invent human rights. In a very real sense human rights invented America.
Jimmy CarterRead