Joseph Stalin and Winston Churchill in “Conversation”
Joseph Stalin governed the Soviet Union from 1924 to 1953. Winston Churchill was the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1940 to 1945 and from 1951 to 1955.
Here, I stitch together some of their popular quotations. Where a quotation is separated by ellipses, the next part may come from a different talk or writing. Occasionally, I’ve added a word as a connective to make it seem more like a conversation than isolated quotes.
Stalin: If the opposition disarms, well and good. If it refuses to disarm, we shall disarm it ourselves…The only real power comes out of a long rifle…Death is the solution to all problems. The easiest way to gain control of the population is to carry out acts of terror…The death of one man is a tragedy. The death of millions is a statistic
Churchill: You regard private enterprise as a predatory tiger to be shot. We see it as a healthy horse, pulling a sturdy wagon...Socialism is a philosophy of failure, the creed of ignorance, and the gospel of envy, its inherent virtue is the equal sharing of misery…The truth is incontrovertible. Malice may attack it, ignorance may deride it, but in the end, there it is…(Referring to the Nazis) So, we shall defend our island, whatever the cost may be, we shall fight on the beaches, we shall fight on the landing grounds, we shall fight in the fields and in the streets, we shall fight in the hills; we shall never surrender.
Stalin: Ideas are more powerful even than guns. We would not let our enemies have guns, why should we let them have ideas…Education is a weapon whose effects depend on who holds it in his hands…Print is the sharpest and the strongest weapon of our party.
Churchill: Nevertheless, people occasionally stumble over the truth, but most of them, alas just pick themselves up and hurry off as if nothing had happened…The best argument against democracy is a five-minute conversation with the average voter. That said, democracy is the worst form of government except all the others.
Stalin: The people who cast the votes decide nothing. The people who count the votes decide everything…A sincere diplomat is like dry water or wooden iron…If any foreign minister begins to defend to the death a “peace conference,” you can be sure his government has already placed its orders for new battleships and airplanes.
Churchill: Unfortunately, a lie gets halfway around the world before the truth has a chance to get its pants on.
Stalin: America is like a healthy body and its resistance is threefold: its patriotism, its morality, and its spiritual life. If we can undermine those, America will collapse from within… When we hang the capitalists, they will sell us the rope we use.
Churchill: I am never going to have anything more to do with politics or politicians. When this war is over, I shall confine myself entirely to writing and painting.
A paperback and Kindle version of this and 20 other such “conversations” are available as Dialogues to Grow From.
I read this aloud on YouTube.
Find the other installments in this series of luminary “conversations” by clicking on my name at the top of this article.
To comment on a “conversation” or to inquire about my career and personal coaching, you can email me at mnemko@comcast.net
