I do not know with what weapons World War III will be fought, but World War IV will be fought with sticks and stones. Letter to Harry S. Truman.

風　Swift as the wind
林　Quiet as the forest
火　Conquer like the fire
山　Steady as the mountain

Victorious warriors win first and then go to war, while defeated warriors go to war first and then seek to win.

Speed is the essence of war. Take advantage of the enemy's unpreparedness; travel by unexpected routes and strike him where he has taken no precautions.

I would say to the House, as I said to those 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 kind. We have before us many, many long months of struggle and suffering. You ask, what is our policy? I can say: It is to wage war, by sea, land and air, with all our might and with all the strength that God can give us: to wage war against a monstrous tyranny, never surpassed in the dark, 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 costs, victory in spite of all terror, victory, however long and hard the road may be; for without victory, there is no survival. Speech in the House of Commons, after taking office as Prime Minister (13 May 1940).

It is said that if you know your enemies and know yourself, you will not be imperilled in a hundred battles; if you do not know your enemies but do know yourself, you will win one and lose one; if you do not know your enemies nor yourself, you will be imperilled in every single battle.

There is no instance of a nation benefitting from prolonged warfare.

Thus, what is of supreme importance in war is to attack the enemy's strategy.

Britain and France had to choose between war and dishonour. They chose dishonour. They will have war. To Neville Chamberlain in the House of Commons, after the Munich accords (1938).

And therefore those skilled in war bring the enemy to the field of battle and are not brought there by him.

We shall show mercy, but we shall not ask for it. Speech in the House of Commons (1940-07-14).

In time of war, when truth is so precious, it must be attended by a bodyguard of lies.

Never, never, never believe any war will be smooth and easy or that anyone who embarks on that strange voyage can measure the tides and hurricanes he will encounter. The statesman who yields to war fever must realize that once the signal is given, he is no longer the master of policy but the slave of unforeseeable and uncontrollable events… incompetent or arrogant commanders, untrustworthy allies, hostile neutrals, malignant fortune, ugly surprise, awful miscalculations.

If Hitler invaded Hell I would make at least a favourable reference to the devil in the House of Commons. Speech after the German invasion of the Soviet Union (June 1941).

War is mainly a catalogue of blunders.

Unless some effective world supergovernment for the purpose of preventing war can be set up ... the prospects for peace and human progress are dark ....If .... it is found possible to build a world organization of irresistible force and inviolable authority for the purpose of securing peace, there are no limits to the blessings which all men enjoy and share.

We are waiting for the long-promised invasion. So are the fishes. (1940-10-21)

When you are winning a war almost everything that happens can be claimed to be right and wise.

No American will think it wrong of me if I proclaim that to have the United States at our side was to me the greatest joy. I could not fortell the course of events. I do not pretend to have measured accurately the martial might of Japan, but now at this very moment I knew the United States was in the war, up to the neck and in to the death. So we had won after all! ... Hitler's fate was sealed. Mussolini's fate was sealed. As for the Japanese, they would be ground to powder.

In War: Resolution. In Defeat: Defiance. In Victory: Magnanimity. In Peace: Good Will.

The gratitude of every home in our Island, in our Empire, and indeed throughout the world, except in the abodes of the guilty, goes out to the British airmen who, undaunted by odds, unwearied in their constant challenge and mortal danger, are turning the tide of the World War by their prowess and by their devotion. Never in the field of human conflict was so much owed by so many to so few. All hearts go out to the fighter pilots, whose brilliant actions we see with our own eyes day after day; but we must never forget that all the time, night after night, month after month, our bomber squadrons travel far into Germany, find their targets in the darkness by the highest navigational skill, aim their attacks, often under the heaviest fire, often with serious loss, with deliberate careful discrimination, and inflict shattering blows upon the whole of the technical and war-making structure of the Nazi power. (1940-08-20)

I cannot forecast to you the action of Russia. It is a riddle wrapped in a mystery inside an enigma: but perhaps there is a key. That key is Russian national interest.

I think a curse should rest on me — because I love this war. I know it's smashing and shattering the lives of thousands every moment — and yet — I can't help it — I enjoy every second of it. A letter to a friend (1916).

When the tyrant has disposed of foreign enemies by conquest or treaty, and there is nothing to fear from them, then he is always stirring up some war or other, in order that the people may require a leader.

Now this is not the end. It is not even the beginning of the end. But it is, perhaps, the end of the beginning. Speech given after the British defeat of the German Afrika Korps at the Second Battle of El Alamein in Egypt (1942-11-10).