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Saturday, December 13, 2008

blood, toil, tears and sweat

only a few days after taking over as prime minister, Winston Churchill entered the House of Commons on may 13, 1940 to make a brief speech about forming an administration consisting of members from all of the major parties. he concluded:

"i say to the house as i said to ministers who have joined this government. i have nothing to offer but blood, toil, tears and sweat. we have before us an ordeal of the most grievous time. we have before us many, many months of struggle and suffering.

you ask, what is our policy? i say it is to wage war by land, sea and air. war with all our might and with all the strength God has given us, and to wage war against a monsterous tyranny never surpassed in the dark and lamentable catalogue of human crime. that is our policy.

you ask, what is our aim? i can answer in one word. it is victory. victory at all cost, victory inspite of all terrors; victory, however long and hard the road may be, for without victory there is no survival.

i take up my task in buoyancy and hope. i feel sure that our cause will not be suffered to fail among men. i feel entitled at this juncture, at this time, to claim the aid of all and to say, 'come then, let us go forward together with our united strength',"

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

(^_^)v

Amirul Hafidz said...

That's a remarkable speech. Hey, do u happen to know any good biography on Churchill?

Mahirah M said...

sorry i dont =( i got this speech from the book 'Speeches That Changed the World"