Sunday, April 11, 2010

Churchill

I just finished a book about Winston Churchill. He was the British Prime Minister during WWII and was instrumental in casting the war as a battle between liberty and totalitarianism, freedom and oppression, good and evil.

I enjoyed reading about his life in the biography by John Keegan. The following are words delivered by Churchill in 1925 at the unveiling of a memorial for the Royal Naval Division. I think they accurately capture the man's convictions and are worth passing along...

"We are often tempted to ask ourselves what we gained by the enormous sacrifices made by those to whom this memorial is dedicated. But that was never the issue with those who marched away. No question of advantage presented itself to their minds. They only saw the light shining on the clear path to duty. They only saw their duty to resist oppression, to protect the weak, to vindicate the profound but unwritten Law of Nations. They never asked the question, 'What shall we gain?' They asked only the question, 'Where lies the right?' It was thus that they marched away for ever, and yet from their uncalculating exaltation and devotion, detached from all consideration of material gain, we may be sure that good will come to their countrymen and to this island they guarded in its reputation and safety, so faithfully and so well."

2 comments:

Unknown said...

Was it a good book? In the last three years, with a mix of fortune and sorrow, I have stopped reading so much literature and have started being pulled in by non-fiction: real stories of real people doing real things. Biographies are particularly important in that, because we can learn the good in these men and women and adopt it in ourselves. So, should I read it?

Lucas Newton said...

I read "Winston Churchill - A Life" by John Keegan. It is a part of the Penguin Lives series.

I did enjoy it. It was concise for sure, but I think it provided a good overview of his life. He is a figure that I thought was worth knowing more about and this book helped me gain insight into who he was and his significance.