Life & People: 11 (NOV)

Showing posts with label 11 (NOV). Show all posts

Will Durant (1885-1981)

William James Durant (/dəˈrænt/; November 5, 1885 – November 7, 1981) was an American historian and philosopher, best known for his 11-volume work, The Story of Civilization, which contains and details the history of Eastern and Western civilizations.[1]

Quotes·Quotations by Will Durant

Happiness

¶ Happiness is a journey, not a destination.

Images

Durant in 1967

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Will_Durant

ZUO Zongtang (左宗棠, 1812-1885)

Zuo Zongtang

Zuo Zongtang (左宗棠) (November 10, 1812 – September 5, 1885), sometimes referred to as General Tso, was a statesman and military leader of the late Qing dynasty (大清).[1]

Quotes·Quotations by Zuo Zongtang

@ We shall first confront them [the Russians] with arguments...and then settle it on the battlefields. [John King Fairbank, Kwang-ching Liu, Denis Crispin Twitchett (1980). Late Ch'ing, 1800-1911. Cambridge University Press. p. 93. ISBN 0521220297. Retrieved on 2010-6-28.][2]

Images

Photograph of Zuo Zongtang, late 19th century

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zuo_Zongtang

[2] https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Zuo_Zongtang

Stefan Zweig (1881-1942)

Stefan Zweig (1881-1942)

Stefan Zweig (28 November 1881 – 22 February 1942) was an Austrian novelist, playwright, journalist and biographer.

Quotes·Quotations by Stefan Zweig

Success

¶ Supreme achievement and outstanding capacity are only rendered possible by mental concentration, by a sublime monomania that verges on lunacy.[2]

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stefan_Zweig

[2] http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Stefan_Zweig

Zig Ziglar

Zig Ziglar

Hilary Hinton "Zig" Ziglar (November 6, 1926 – November 28, 2012) was an American author, salesman, and motivational speaker.[1]

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zig_Ziglar

William Cullen Bryant (1794-1878)

William Cullen Bryant (1794-1878)

William Cullen Bryant (November 3, 1794 – June 12, 1878) was an American romantic poet, journalist, and long-time editor of the New York Evening Post.

Quotes·Quotations by William Cullen Bryant

August

¶ The August cloud * * * suddenly
Melts into streams of rain.
[Sella]

March

@ The stormy March has come at last,
With winds and clouds and changing skies;
I hear the rushing of the blast
That through the snowy valley flies.
[March. Reported in Bartlett's Familiar Quotations, 10th ed. (1919)]

Summer

¶ The summer morn is bright and fresh, the birds are darting by,
As if they loved to breast the breeze that sweeps the cool clear sky.
[The Strange Lady, st. 6 (1835)]

***

@ Vainly the fowler's eye
Might mark thy distant flight to do thee wrong,
As, darkly painted on the crimson sky,
Thy figure floats along.
[To a Waterfowl, st. 2 (1815).]

@ When April winds
Grew soft, the maple burst into a flush
Of scarlet flowers. The tulip tree, high up,
Opened in airs of June her multitude
Of golden chalices to humming-birds
And silken-wing'd insects of the sky.
[The Fountain, st. 3 (1839)]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Cullen_Bryant
http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/William_Cullen_Bryant

Will Rogers (1879-1935)

Will Rogers (1879-1935)

Will Rogers (November 4, 1879 – August 15, 1935) was an American cowboy, vaudeville performer, humorist, social commentator and motion picture actor. He was one of the world's best-known celebrities in the 1920s and 1930s.

Known as Oklahoma's favorite son, Rogers was born to a prominent Cherokee Nation family in Indian Territory (now part of Oklahoma). He traveled around the world three times, made 71 movies (50 silent films and 21 "talkies"), wrote more than 4,000 nationally-syndicated newspaper columns, and became a world-famous figure. By the mid-1930s, Rogers was adored by the American people. He was the leading political wit of the Progressive Era, and was the top-paid Hollywood movie star at the time. Rogers died in 1935 with aviator Wiley Post, when their small airplane crashed in Alaska.

His vaudeville rope act led to success in the Ziegfeld Follies, which in turn led to the first of his many movie contracts. His 1920s syndicated newspaper column and his radio appearances increased his visibility and popularity. Rogers crusaded for aviation expansion, and provided Americans with first-hand accounts of his world travels. His earthy anecdotes and folksy style allowed him to poke fun at gangsters, prohibition, politicians, government programs, and a host of other controversial topics in a way that was readily appreciated by a national audience, with no one offended. His aphorisms, couched in humorous terms, were widely quoted: "I am not a member of an organized political party. I am a Democrat."

Rogers even provided an epigram on his most famous epigram:
When I die, my epitaph, or whatever you call those signs on gravestones, is going to read: "I joked about every prominent man of my time, but I never met a man I dident like." I am so proud of that, I can hardly wait to die so it can be carved.

Quotes·Quotations by Will Rogers

Art

¶ See what will happen if you don't stop biting your fingernails? [to his niece on seeing the Venus de Milo]

Education

¶ Why don't they pass a constitutional amendment prohibiting anybody from learning anything? If it works as well as prohibition did, in five years Americans would be the smartest race of people on Earth.

Life

¶ Do the best you can, and don't take life too serious.

¶ You've got to go out on a limb sometimes because that's where the fruit is.

Star

¶ I'm not a real movie star. I've still got the same wife I started out with twenty-eight years ago.

Worry

¶ Worrying is like paying on a debt that may never come due.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Will_Rogers

Images

Wikimedia Commons

Lev Vygotsky (1896-1934)

Lev Vygotsky (1896-1934)

Lev Semyonovich Vygotsky (November 17 [O.S. November 5] 1896 – June 11, 1934) was a Soviet psychologist and the founder of cultural-historical psychology.

Quotes·Quotations by ***

Self

@ Through others, we become ourselves.
Vygotsky, L. S. (1987). The genesis of higher mental functions. In R. Reiber (Ed.), The history of the development of higher mental functions (Vol. 4, pp. 97-120). New York: Plennum.

***

¶

http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Lev_Vygotsky

Voltaire (1694-1778)

Voltaire (1694-1778)

François-Marie Arouet (French: [fʁɑ̃.swa ma.ʁi aʁ.wɛ]; 21 November 1694 – 30 May 1778), known by his nom de plume Voltaire (pronounced: [vɔl.tɛːʁ]), was a French Enlightenment writer, historian and philosopher famous for his wit and for his advocacy of civil liberties, including freedom of religion, freedom of expression, free trade and separation of church and state. Voltaire was a prolific writer, producing works in almost every literary form, including plays, poetry, novels, essays, and historical and scientific works. He wrote more than 20,000 letters and more than 2,000 books and pamphlets. He was an outspoken supporter of social reform, despite strict censorship laws with harsh penalties for those who broke them. As a satirical polemicist, he frequently made use of his works to criticize intolerance, religious dogma, and the French institutions of his day.

Voltaire was one of several Enlightenment figures (along with Montesquieu, John Locke, Richard Price, Jean-Jacques Rousseau, and Émilie du Châtelet) whose works and ideas influenced important thinkers of both the American and French Revolutions.

@ La vertu s'avilit à se justifier.
Virtue debases in justifying itself. [Oedipe, act II, scene IV (1718).]

@ On doit des egards aux vivants; on ne doit aux morts que la verite.
We should be considerate to the living; to the dead we owe only the truth. [Letter to M. de Grenonville (1719).]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Voltaire
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Atelier_de_Nicolas_de_Largillière,_portrait_de_Voltaire,_détail_(musée_Carnavalet)_-002.jpg
http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Voltaire

Bryan Adams (1959- )

Bryan Adams (1959- )

Bryan Guy Adams, OC OBC (born 5 November 1959) is a Canadian singer-songwriter, musician, producer, actor, social activist, and photographer. As one of the world's best-selling music artists and the best-selling Canadian rock artist of all time, Adams has been one of the most successful figures of the world of popular music during last three decades and as a singer, he's known for his strong husky vocals and energetic live performances.

Quotes·Quotations by Bryan Adams

Attitude

¶ Thoughts are things; they have tremendous power. Thoughts of doubt and fear are pathways to failure. When you conquer negative attitudes of doubt and fear you conquer failure. Thoughts crystallize into habit and habit solidifies into circumstances.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bryan_Adams

Vivien Leigh (1913-1967)

Vivien Leigh (1913-1967)

Vivien Leigh, Lady Olivier (5 November 1913 – 8 July 1967) was an English actress. She won the Best Actress Academy Award for her portrayal of Blanche DuBois in A Streetcar Named Desire (1951), a role she also played on stage in London's West End, as well as for her portrayal of the southern belle Scarlett O'Hara, alongside Clark Gable, in the epic American Civil War drama Gone with the Wind.

She was a prolific stage performer, frequently in collaboration with her then-husband, Laurence Olivier, who directed her in several of her roles. During her 30-year stage career, she played roles ranging from the heroines of Noël Coward and George Bernard Shaw comedies to classic Shakespearean characters such as Ophelia, Cleopatra, Juliet and Lady Macbeth.

Lauded for her beauty, Leigh felt that it sometimes prevented her from being taken seriously as an actress. However, ill health proved to be her greatest obstacle. For much of her adult life Leigh suffered from bipolar disorder. She earned a reputation for being difficult to work with, and her career suffered periods of inactivity. She also suffered recurrent bouts of chronic tuberculosis, first diagnosed in the mid-1940s. Leigh and Olivier divorced in 1960, and she worked sporadically in film and theatre until her death from tuberculosis in 1967.

She is ranked 16th on AFI's 100 Years...100 Stars list, unveiled on 15 June 1999 by the American Film Institute.

Quotes·Quotation by Vivien Leigh

Vivien Leigh as Scarlett O'Hara from Gone with the Wind (1939)

¶ As God is my witness, as God is my witness they're not going to lick me. I'm going to live through this and when it's all over, I'll never be hungry again. No, nor any of my folk. If I have to lie, steal, cheat or kill. As God is my witness, I'll never be hungry again.

¶ I can't let him go. I can't. There must be some way to bring him back. Oh, I can't think about this now! I'll go crazy if I do! I'll think about it tomorrow. But I must think about it. I must think about it. What is there to do? What is there that matters? Tara! Home. I'll go home. And I'll think of some way to get him back. After all... tomorrow is another day!

Vivien Leigh as Blanche DuBois from A Streetcar Named Desire (1951)

¶ Whoever you are, I have always depended on the kindness of strangers.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vivien_Leigh

Thomas Bailey Aldrich (1836-1907)

Thomas Bailey Aldrich (1836-1907)

Thomas Bailey Aldrich (November 11, 1836 – March 19, 1907) was an American poet, novelist, travel writer and editor.

Quotes·Quotations by Thomas Bailey Aldrich

May

¶ [May]
Hebe's here, May is here!
The air is fresh and sunny;
And the miser-bees are busy
Hoarding golden honey.

¶ [October]
October turned my maple's leaves to gold;
The most are gone now; here and there one lingers.
Soon these will slip from out the twig's weak hold,
Like coins between a dying miser's fingers.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Bailey_Aldrich

Scarlett Johansson (1984- )

Scarlett Johansson (1984- )

Scarlett Johansson (born November 22, 1984) is an American actress, model and singer.

Johansson made her film debut in North (1994) and was later nominated for the Independent Spirit Award for Best Female Lead for her performance in Manny and Lo (1996). She rose to further prominence with her roles in The Horse Whisperer (1998) and Ghost World (2001). She transitioned to adult roles with her performances in Girl with a Pearl Earring (2003) and Sofia Coppola's Lost in Translation (2003), for which she won a BAFTA award for Best Actress in a Leading Role. Both films earned her Golden Globe Award nominations.

A role in A Love Song for Bobby Long (2004) earned Johannson a third Golden Globe for Best Actress nomination. Johansson garnered another Golden Globe nomination for Best Supporting Actress with her role in Woody Allen's Match Point (2005). She went on to star in two further Allen movies: Scoop (2006) and Vicky Cristina Barcelona (2008). Johansson has appeared in other successful films, such as Christopher Nolan's The Prestige (2006). Johansson plays popular Marvel comic book character Black Widow/Natasha Romanoff in the films Iron Man 2 (2010) and The Avengers (2012)

The 2010 Broadway revival of Arthur Miller's A View From the Bridge gave Johannson some of her best reviews for her acting, and she received a Tony Award for Best Performance by a Featured Actress in a Play. On May 20, 2008, Johansson debuted as a vocalist on her first album, Anywhere I Lay My Head, which comprises mostly cover versions of Tom Waits songs. Her second album, Break Up, with Pete Yorn, was released in September 2009.

Quotes·Quotation by Scarlett Johansson

Scarlett Johansson as Natalie Rushman/Black Widow from Iron Man 2 (2010)

¶ I need your impression.

¶ That's not up to you.

Scarlett Johansson as Natasha Romanoff from Avengers (2012)

¶ I'll persuade you.

¶ Regimes fall every day. I tend not to weep over that, I'm Russian... or was.

¶ Thank you for your cooperation.

¶ Natasha Romanoff: [Clint is waking up from Loki's mind control] Clint, you're gonna be alright.
Clint Barton: You know that? Is that what you know? I got... I gotta go in though. I gotta flush him out.
Natasha Romanoff: You gotta level out, that's gonna take time.
Clint Barton: You don't understand. Have you ever had someone take your brain and play? Take you out and stuff something else in? You know what it's like to be unmade?
Natasha Romanoff: You know that I do.
Clint Barton: Why am I back? How'd you get him out?
Natasha Romanoff: Cognitive re-calibration. I hit you really hard in the head.
Clint Barton: Thanks.

¶ Clint Barton: [Natasha has freed him from his restraints] Tasha, how many agents did I-?
Natasha Romanoff: Don't. Don't do that to yourself, Clint. This is Loki. This is monsters and magic and nothing we were ever trained for.
Clint Barton: Loki, he got away?
Natasha Romanoff: Yeah. Don't suppose you know where?
Clint Barton: [Shakes head] Didn't need to know. Didn't ask. He's gonna make his play soon though. Today.
Natasha Romanoff: We gotta stop him.
Clint Barton: Yeah, who's "we"?
Natasha Romanoff: [Shrugs] I don't know. Whoever's left.
Clint Barton: Well, I... if I put an arrow through Loki's eye socket, I'd sleep better, I s'pose.
Natasha Romanoff: Now you sound like you.
Clint Barton: But you don't. You're a spy, not a soldier. Now you want to wade into a war. Why? What did Loki do to you?
Natasha Romanoff: He didn't, I just...
[pauses]
Clint Barton: Natasha.
Natasha Romanoff: I've been compromised. I got red in my ledger. I'd like to wipe it out.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scarlett_Johansson

Satya Sai Baba (1926-2001)

Satya Sai Baba (1926-2001)

Śri Sathya Sai Baba (born as Sathyanarayana Raju (23 November 1926 – 24 April 2011) was an Indian guru, spiritual figure, mystic, philanthropist and educator. He claimed to be the reincarnation of Sai Baba of Shirdi who was considered a spiritual saint and a miracle worker, whose teachings were an eclectic blend of Hindu and Muslim beliefs, and who died in 1918.

The materializations of vibhuti (holy ash) and other small objects such as rings, necklaces and watches by Sathya Sai Baba were a source of both fame and controversy; devotees considered them signs of divinity, while skeptics viewed them as simple conjuring tricks.

Photos of Sathya Sai Baba are displayed in millions of homes and on car dashboards. Lockets bearing his photo are worn by many as a symbol of good fortune and are often kept in wallets for spiritual protection. Sai Baba had ashrams in 126 countries and also ran a network of hospitals, clinics and schools that were often free.

Quotes·Quotations by Satya Sai Baba

Humility

¶ People say "I want peace." If you remove I {ego}, and your want {desire}, you are left with peace.

Auguste Rodin (1840-1917)

Francois-Auguste Rodin (1840-1917)

François-Auguste-René Rodin (12 November 1840 – 17 November 1917) was a French sculptor, and the preeminent sculptor of the modern era. He played a pivotal role in the art of the late nineteenth century, both excelling at and rebelling against the Beaux-Arts tradition.

Quotes·Quotations by Auguste Rodin

Arts

¶ I choose a block of marble and chop off whatever I don't need.
when asked how he managed to make his remarkable statues

***

@ Nothing is a waste of time if you use the experience wisely.
As quoted in Heads and Tales (1936) by Malvina Hoffman, p. 47

@ The artist must create a spark before he can make a fire and before art is born, the artist must be ready to be consumed by the fire of his own creation.
As quoted in A Toolbox for Humanity: More Than 9000 Years of Thought (2004) by Lloyd Albert Johnson, p. 7

@ I know very well that one must fight, for one is often in contradiction to the spirit of the age.
As quoted in "Rodin freed human spirit" in The Des Moines Register (7 January 2007)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Auguste_Rodin
http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Auguste_Rodin

Caroline Kennedy (1957- )

Caroline Kennedy (1957- )

Caroline Bouvier Kennedy (born November 27, 1957) is an American author, attorney, Ambassador to Japan, and member of the Kennedy family. She is the only living child of U.S. President John Fitzgerald "Jack" Kennedy and First Lady Jacqueline Lee "Jackie" Bouvier.

At the time of her father's presidency, she was a young child; after his assassination in November 1963, her family settled in the Upper East Side of Manhattan, where she attended school. Kennedy graduated from Radcliffe College and worked at New York City's Metropolitan Museum of Art, where she met her future husband, exhibit designer Edwin Schlossberg. She went on to receive a J.D. degree from Columbia Law School. Kennedy's professional life has spanned law and politics as well as education and charitable work. She has also acted as a spokesperson for her family's legacy and co-authored two books on civil liberties with Ellen Alderman.

In the 2008 presidential election, Kennedy endorsed Democratic candidate Barack Obama for President early in the primary race; she later stumped for him in Florida, Indiana, and Ohio, served as co-chair of his Vice Presidential Search Committee, and addressed the 2008 Democratic National Convention in Denver. After Obama's selection of then-Senator Hillary Clinton as Secretary of State, Kennedy expressed interest in being appointed to Clinton's vacant Senate seat from New York, but she later withdrew from consideration, citing "personal reasons".

Quotes·Quotations by Caroline Kennedy

Japan

¶ The United States is disappointed that Japan's leadership has taken an action that will exacerbate tensions with Japan's neighbors. (Dec 26, 2013)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caroline_Kennedy

John Ray (1627-1705)

John Ray (1627-1705)

John Ray (29 November 1627 – 17 January 1705) was an English naturalist, sometimes referred to as the father of English natural history. Until 1670, he wrote his name as John Wray. From then on, he used 'Ray', after "having ascertained that such had been the practice of his family before him".

He published important works on botany, zoology, and natural theology. His classification of plants in his Historia Plantarum, was an important step towards modern taxonomy. Ray rejected the system of dichotomous division by which species were classified according to a pre-conceived, either/or type system, and instead classified plants according to similarities and differences that emerged from observation. Thus he advanced scientific empiricism against the deductive rationalism of the scholastics. He was the first to give a biological definition of the term species.

Quotes·Quotation by John Ray

Money

¶ Money begets money.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Ray

Charles de Gaulle (1890-1970)

Charles de Gaulle (1890-1970)

Charles André Joseph Marie de Gaulle (English: /ˈtʃɑrlz/ or /ˈʃɑrl dəˈɡɔːl/; French: [ʃaʁl də ɡol] ; 22 November 1890 – 9 November 1970) was a French general and statesman who led the Free French Forces during World War II. He later founded the French Fifth Republic in 1958 and served as its first President from 1959 to 1969.

A veteran of World War I, in the 1920s and 1930s de Gaulle came to the fore as a proponent of mobile armoured divisions, which he considered would become central in modern warfare. During World War II, he earned the rank of Brigadier General (retained throughout his life), leading one of the few successful armoured counter-attacks during the 1940 Battle of France in May at Montcornet, and then briefly served in the French government as France was falling. De Gaulle was the most senior French military officer to reject the June 1940 armistice to Nazi Germany right from the outset.

He escaped to Britain and gave a famous radio address, broadcast by the BBC on 18 June 1940, exhorting the French people to resist Nazi Germany and organised the Free French Forces with exiled French officers in Britain. As the war progressed de Gaulle gradually gained control of all French colonies except Indochina most of which had at first been controlled by the pro-German Vichy regime. Despite earning a reputation for being a difficult man to do business with, by the time of the Allied invasion of France in 1944 he was heading what amounted to a French government in exile, but although he insisted that France be treated as a great independent power by the other Allies, the Americans in particular remained deeply suspicious of his motives. De Gaulle became prime minister in the French Provisional Government, resigning in 1946 due to political conflicts.

After the war he founded his own political party, the Rally of the French People (RPF). Although he retired from politics in the early 1950s after the RPF's failure to win power, he was voted back to power as prime minister by the French Assembly during the May 1958 crisis. De Gaulle led the writing of a new constitution founding the Fifth Republic, and was elected President of France, an office which now held much greater power than in the Third and Fourth Republics.

As President, Charles de Gaulle ended the political chaos that preceded his return to power. A new French currency was issued in January 1960 to control inflation and industrial growth was promoted. Although he initially supported French rule over Algeria, he controversially decided to grant independence to that country, ending an expensive and unpopular war but leaving France divided and having to face down opposition from the white settlers and French military who had originally supported his return to power.

Immensely patriotic, de Gaulle and his supporters held the view, known as Gaullism, that France should continue to see itself as a major power and should not rely on other nations - like the US - for its national security and prosperity. Often criticized for his Politics of Grandeur, de Gaulle oversaw the development of French atomic weapons and promoted a foreign policy independent of U.S. and British influence. He withdrew France from NATO military command — although remaining a member of the western alliance—and twice vetoed Britain's entry into the European Community. He travelled widely in Eastern Europe and other parts of the world and recognised Communist China. On a visit to Canada in 1967 he gave encouragement to Quebec Separatism.

During his term, de Gaulle also faced controversy and political opposition from Communists and Socialists. Despite having been re-elected as President, this time by direct popular ballot, in 1965, in May 1968 he appeared likely to lose power amidst widespread protests by students and workers, but survived the crisis with an increased majority in the Assembly. However, de Gaulle resigned after losing a referendum in 1969. He is considered by many to be the most influential leader in modern French history.

Quotes·Quotations by Charles de Gaulle

Character

¶ Faced with crisis, the man of character falls back on himself. He imposes his own stamp of action, takes responsibility for it, makes it his own.

Politics·Government

¶ Since a politician never believes what he says, he is surprised when others believe him.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_de_Gaulle

Winston Churchill (1874-1965)

Winston Churchill (1874-1965)

Sir Winston Leonard Spencer-Churchill, KG, OM, CH, TD, PC, DL, FRS, Hon. RA (30 November 1874 – 24 January 1965) was a British Conservative politician and statesman known for his leadership of the United Kingdom during World War II. Widely regarded as one of the greatest wartime leaders of the century, he served as Prime Minister twice (1940–45 and 1951–55). A noted statesman and orator, Churchill was also an officer in the British Army, a historian, a writer, and an artist. He is the only British prime minister to have received the Nobel Prize in Literature, and was the first person to be made an Honorary Citizen of the United States.

Churchill was born into the aristocratic family of the Dukes of Marlborough. His father, Lord Randolph Churchill, was a charismatic politician who served as Chancellor of the Exchequer; his mother, Jenny Jerome, an American socialite. As a young army officer, he saw action in British India, the Sudan, and the Second Boer War. He gained fame as a war correspondent and wrote books about his campaigns.

At the forefront of politics for fifty years, he held many political and cabinet positions. Before the First World War, he served as President of the Board of Trade, Home Secretary, and First Lord of the Admiralty as part of the Asquith Liberal government. During the war, he continued as First Lord of the Admiralty until the disastrous Gallipoli Campaign, which he had sponsored, caused his departure from government.[neutrality is disputed] He then served briefly on the Western Front, commanding the 6th Battalion of the Royal Scots Fusiliers. He returned to government as Minister of Munitions, Secretary of State for War, and Secretary of State for Air. After the War, Churchill served as Chancellor of the Exchequer in the Conservative (Baldwin) government of 1924–29, controversially returning the pound sterling in 1925 to the gold standard at its pre-war parity, a move widely seen as creating deflationary pressure on the UK economy. Also controversial were Churchill's opposition to increased home rule for India and his resistance to the 1936 abdication of Edward VIII.

Out of office and politically "in the wilderness" during the 1930s, Churchill took the lead in warning about Nazi Germany and in campaigning for rearmament. On the outbreak of the Second World War, he was again appointed First Lord of the Admiralty. Following the resignation of Neville Chamberlain on 10 May 1940, Churchill became Prime Minister. His steadfast refusal to consider defeat, surrender, or a compromise peace helped inspire British resistance, especially during the difficult early days of the War when Britain stood alone in its active opposition to Hitler. Churchill was particularly noted for his speeches and radio broadcasts, which helped inspire the British people. He led Britain as Prime Minister until victory over Nazi Germany had been secured.

After the Conservative Party lost the 1945 election, he became Leader of the Opposition. In 1951, he again became Prime Minister, before retiring in 1955. Upon his death, Elizabeth II granted him the honour of a state funeral, which saw one of the largest assemblies of world statesmen in history. Named the Greatest Briton of all time in a 2002 poll, Churchill is widely regarded as being among the most influential persons in British history.

Quotes·Quotations by Winston Churchill

Advice

¶ The farther backward you can look,the farther forward you will see.

Attitudes

¶ The optimist sees opportunity in every danger; the pessimist sees danger in every opportunity.

History

¶ History will be kind to me for I intend to write it.

Politics·Government

¶ Any man who is under 30, and is not a liberal, has not heart; and any man who is over 30, and is not a conservative, has no brains.

War

¶ Never in the field of human conflict was so much owed by so many to so few.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Winston_Churchill

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