QuoteProject
In war, the truth must be guarded by a body guard of lies.
Winston Churchill
ShareWTF𝕏

Interpretation

What this quote means

In war, deception is often necessary to protect the truth.

Winston Churchill's quote emphasizes the idea that during times of conflict, especially war, the harsh realities and truths can be so difficult that they often need to be shielded by falsehoods or strategic misrepresentations. This suggests that in certain situations, lying can serve a protective function, safeguarding deeper truths that may be too painful or damaging to confront directly.

Themes

WarTruthLiesDeceptionConflict

In practice

Example use cases

Discussing military strategy in a war conference.

More from Winston Churchill

It is a socialist idea that making profits is a vice; I consider the real vice is making losses.
Winston ChurchillRead
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 don't know who I am or who I was. I know it less than ever. I do and I don't identify myself with myself. Everything is totally contradictory, but maybe I have remained exactly as I was as a small boy of twelve.
Alberto GiacomettiRead
A government is an institution that holds a monopoly on the legitimate use of violence.
Max WeberRead
The news automatically becomes the real world for the TV user and is not a substitute for reality, but is itself an immediate reality.
Marshall McluhanRead
Far, far below the deepest delvings of the dwarves, the world is gnawed by nameless things.
J. R. R. TolkienRead
Many people feel "guilty" about things they shouldn't feel guilty about, in order to shut out feelings of guilt about things they should feel guilty about.
Sydney J. HarrisRead
I can't honestly account for the very personal response that I have to one story and not another, a sense of an orbit, the orbit of a world that draws me as my own life recedes.
Daniel Day-LewisRead

A little wisdom, now and then

Subscribe for the occasional hand-picked quote. No noise.

Quote by Winston Churchill | QuoteProject