Re: Churchill

Posted by Anwar on September 27, 2003

In Reply to: Re: Churchill posted by Young Winston on September 26, 2003

: : Found it: "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." (Sir Winston Churchill)

:
: I have found a different version:

: "Show me a young Conservative and I'll show you someone with no heart. Show me an old Liberal and I'll show you someone with no brains." - Winston Churchill

: I think that he probably expressed the sentiment about idealism and pragmatism in different ways at different times - I also think he used the word "communist" instead of liberal.

: He was of course, more a politician of conviction than of party and it would be trite to cite him denouncing a particular party - in his usual way, he was denouncing excess of either idealism or hard-nosed realism.

: A page of his comments would contain more profundity than a whole Hatton's worth from likes of Alistair Campbell and Hoon.

: The only way Hoon emulates Churchill is that he doesn't contemplate defeat. The difference is Churchill was fighting for the country, not his own pathetic political career.

I have read a similar quote somewhere, though I can't recall the source or origin. It says "one who is under 25 and is not an idealist is a fool, and one who is over 25 and is still an idealist is a bloody fool".