It is a socialist idea that making profits is a vice; I consider the real vice is making losses.
The United States invariably does the right thing, after having exhausted every other alternative.
Interpretation
What this quote means
This quote emphasizes the tendency to choose the right path only after exploring all other options, often through trial and error.
Winston Churchill's quote reflects the idea that while the United States may ultimately reach decisions that align with moral righteousness or practicality, it often does so only after navigating through a series of less optimal choices. This suggests a process of learning through experience and the importance of perseverance in finding the best solution, acknowledging that the journey to correctness can be fraught with mistakes and misjudgments.
Themes
In practice
Example use cases
In a discussion on policy-making, this quote could serve to illustrate the importance of thorough analysis before arriving at a conclusion.
More from Winston Churchill
All quotes βThe 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
Wherever you go you will find people lying to you, and as your awareness grows, you will notice that you also lie to yourself. Do not expect people to tell you the truth because they also lie to themselves. You have to trust yourself and choose to believe or not to believe what someone says to you.
What matters is how quickly you do what your soul directs.
When the truth cannot be clearly made out, what is false is increased through fear.
He who knows things, and in fighting puts his knowledge into practice, will win his battles. He who knows them not, nor practices them, will surely be defeated.
Any fool can know. The point is to understand.
we know nothing of tomorrow, our business is to be good and happy today