A Brighter Tomorrow
6 Resilient Quotes from Winston Churchill
#2-”We shall draw from the heart of suffering itself the means of inspiration and survival.”
Americans have it bad today.
The United States alone has already lost 176,000 civilians to COVID-19. Our economy is crippled. Our standard of living is threatened. Things are especially bleak by modern standards, as we’d grown accustomed to comforts those of previous generations would scarcely believe.
A national mental health crisis is emerging, the ramifications of which may play out for decades.
But looking back on history, even now history shows us our travails are hardly unprecedented.
In 1940, a German invasion of the United Kingdom seemed all but inevitable. The UK was an island fortress of democracy, with Western Europe falling or fallen to the Nazis.
France was occupied territory. Hitler had his eyes fixed on England. And all that stood between him and his goal was the Royal Air Force. Each night for 57 nights, nearly every major city in the UK heard the drone of German bomber fleets — the fall of 2,000kg high-explosive and incendiary bombs. Buildings crumbled. Cities were leveled.
No home was safe. No civilian knew going to bed at night whether their loved ones would make it through the night.
Moreover, everyone knew this was a prelude to an overwhelming fascist ground invasion. The UK had very few tanks, and its army would have little chance of stopping a nazi ground force if one were able to land. There was no telling when or if an invasion would happen, but for months one man inspired the British nation to stand firm.
Enter Sir Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill.
Prime Minister Churchill inspired the Brits to keep fighting through the darkest of circumstances, when all hope seemed lost and when other leaders turned down the responsibility he so vigorously accepted. Overcoming what we might call either major depression or bipolar disorder (he deemed this issue the “black dog”), he spoke to his country with genuine courage. He instilled the bravery to resist the monstrous tyranny of his day.
Here are 6 Churchill quotes on leadership, and a short discussion of how they might resonate with tomorrow’s leaders.
1) “If you’re going through hell, keep going.”
Never let the brutalities and tragedies of circumstance define you.
Never stop moving. Never stop planning. Never stop moving forward — even if you’re only taking small steps forward, take those steps. Hopelessness is a beast. And if you let it, the darkness will pull you down and paralyze you. It’s usually better to do something than nothing.
Instead of being reactive, be proactive. Let dark times inspire you to action.
Build the habit of conscientiousness — do little things repeatedly, and keep track of them.
2) “We shall draw from the heart of suffering itself the means of inspiration and survival.”
Churchill knew the meaning of suffering.
Despite growing up in Blenheim Palace at the very core of the British aristocracy, Churchill struggled from a young age with a severe speech impediment and mood disorder — the latter of which ran in the family.
He served in the military in his early life. In 1899, when as a war correspondent he was taken as a prisoner of war in South Africa.
He escaped, navigating 300 miles through enemy territory — alone.
Churchill pursued a career in politics. But in the decade before becoming Prime Minister, Churchill had fallen out of favor. He was isolated politically — his views disfavored. He lamented time passing him by. He drank heavily. He fought with his “black dog.”
When the Nazis rose to power, he spoke out publicly against the foolishness of appeasement with increasing force and decreasing effect — until finally, his countrymen had little choice but to listen. He knew what was coming long before his peers did. He knew what Hitler was, and he had grown accustomed to the knowledge that his nation was going to try to give him what he wanted.
Yet when it became clear a new strategy was necessary, he stepped forward. He shared his strength. And he won.
3) “When the eagles are silent, the parrots begin to jabber.”
When people of good character and sound knowledge lose the freedom to speak about subjects of consequence, the quality of discourse and decisions suffers.
When the discourse of fools dominates a society, everyone suffers.
This is why it is critically important to stop penalizing political speech — in any form, from any perspective. Even the ugliest of speech needs protection — especially ugly speech (as it’s that kind of speech that most needs challenge with logic and reason).
People need to be authentic with others, so that the best among us offer their thoughts to the marketplace of ideas without fear of punishment or censorship.
A culture of true diversity begets prosperity — diversity of background, of identity, and of thought, without fear of repercussion. The best minds in society (from wherever they come) must be able to offer their authentic selves and viewpoints. Smart people won’t speak up if society punishes deviation from the group.
Allow others to speak their minds, and help guide them when they go astray. Share your knowledge. Everyone will benefit from it.
4) “A state of society where men may not speak their minds cannot long endure.”
What caused the nightmare of 2020?
Historians will debate this question ad infinitum. This is an era of incomprehensible tragedy, unabated incompetence, and utter chaos. But one of the factors that caused some undecided voters to swing in 2016 was a reaction to the “social justice” movement in academia.
Social justice culture was, and is, a mainstream academic movement of defeating ugly viewpoints not through debate — not through Socratic Method, philosophical razors, or intense logical discourse — but through shameless fascistic censorship.
Social justice warriors silenced dissent, censored ugly viewpoints, forgot the precepts of civil debate, and birthed a nationwide cult of fear and coddling. A considerable portion of the generation of adult children coming out of our schools over the last few years — at unfathomable personal/family debt — could not grasp the difference between being presented with an offensive idea, and being physically attacked.
These censorship concepts are especially absurd when one considers that as audience size increases, the chances of offending someone increase exponentially. It’s virtually impossible to speak meaningfully to a crowd of hundreds or thousands about a topic of consequence without risking offense and cancellation — especially when the audience is primed to expect harm, and ill-equipped in critical thinking, strategy, and logic.
Cancellation culture is also self-defeating. By seeking to silence those who disagree rather than dealing with the bad ideas, we merely force the bad ideas away from us. We allow them to fester elsewhere, rather than dealing with them.
“People don’t have ideas. Ideas have people.”
— Carl Jung
The backlash to social justice culture was inevitable.
When people don’t feel safe to say what they mean — to be authentic in their dealings with others — they will act to restore the status quo. It seems obvious in retrospect they’d eventually choose leadership that went out of its way to speak candidly — even if that meant operating without a filter and saying terrible things.
And if our leaders stopped listening in leading the country, maybe that was inevitable, too. They weren’t selected merely on the ability to listen, team-build, or otherwise lead — they were selected (at least partially) on the ability to speak freely. This was something many politicians were afraid to do in 2016. The reactive “populism” we saw infecting our dialogue over the last few years was a product of its circumstance.
Free speech is the bedrock of citizen-government.
The First Amendment is the First Amendment for a reason. From bad ideas on college campuses to peaceful protests in the streets, there is nothing more American (or democratic) than speaking, and listening. If we don’t have that, we don’t have anything.
Speak your mind, and encourage others to do the same.
5) “You have enemies? Good. It means you’ve stood up for something, sometime in your life.”
As a civilization, America has become afraid of hard decisions.
Sometimes, we need to do what is right, even when it is not popular — even when others give us funny looks, ostracize us, or threaten us with various “ist” words.
It’s ok to be threatened with a label. It’s ok to stand alone for the right reasons. It’s ok to stand for your convictions — so long as you treat others with respect and authenticity along the way.
In a debate, cherish being wrong. Listen. Separate the ideas being discussed from the identities of the people discussing them. You might learn something.
3 Tips to Become a Better Listener, and a More Persuasive Person
Hint — it’s not about you.
medium.com
Disagreeing for the sake of being disagreeable isn’t good. But neither is it good to agree for the sake of being agreeable.
You have a moral obligation to speak up when someone does something wicked, or advances a destructive idea. Always be aware of the subconscious desire for conformity, and be true to yourself.
Share your unique contributions with the world, or else see everyone suffer for their absence.
There may be billions of people on Earth, but the unique nature of human experience is incompatible with a culture of silence. We must do better at encouraging people to engage — with compassion and dignity.
Be authentic, think for yourself, and eschew groupthink at almost any cost.
6) “The price of greatness is responsibility.”
Own your situation.
Personal responsibility is the foundation of success.
Of all personality traits, conscientiousness is the most consistently beneficial at predicting long-term life success — using both subjective and objective metrics.
If you take responsibility for something, finish it.
And no matter where you are in your life — the more responsibility you have, the happier you are likely to be.
So take responsibility today. Start with goals. Make a list — long-term goals, and short-term goals. Then accomplish the short-term goals. It’s simple, but it adds up.
“Pick up the heaviest thing you can, and carry it.”
— Jordan Peterson
History seems obvious with the 20–20 vision of hindsight. But in 1940, an Allied victory in World War II was anything but obvious. The courage Churchill showed in leading the UK through the Blitz kept Hitler at bay and helped ensure eventual victory over an unimaginable enemy.
These ideas might help us build a better tomorrow now.
