Entries from Come Sit a While that draw on the words of Attributed to Winston Churchill.
Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill (1874–1965) led Great Britain through the darkest hours of the Second World War, but almost nothing in his early life suggested he would. Born at Blenheim Palace, he was a poor student with a lisp and a stammer, largely ignored by a father who thought little of him. He failed the entrance exam to military college twice before passing on the third try. His long political career was a mountain range of peaks and valleys: hailed as a hero after escaping a Boer prison camp as a young war correspondent, then blamed for the catastrophe at Gallipoli in the First World War and driven from power. Through the 1930s he wandered what he called his “wilderness years,” out of office and out of favor, warning a country that did not want to listen about the gathering danger in Germany. He also battled recurring seasons of deep melancholy he called his “black dog.” Then, in 1940, at age sixty-five — when most men are finished — his nation turned to him, and the failures of a lifetime became the training for its finest hour. He was voted out of office in 1945, weeks after winning the war — and came back to serve as Prime Minister again at seventy-six. He knew both halves of this quote from the inside.
Entries featuring Attributed to Winston Churchill
- The Courage to Continue (2026-06-30)
Drawn from 1 entries · refreshed July 24, 2026