#power
"People say we ought not to allow ourselves to be drawn into a theoretical antagonism between Nazidom and democracy; but the antagonism is here now. It is this very conflict of spiritual and moral ideas which gives the free countries a great part of their strength. You see these dictators on their pedestals, surrounded by the bayonets of their soldiers and the truncheons of their police. On all sides they are guarded by masses of armed men, cannons, aeroplanes, fortifications, and the like — they boast and vaunt themselves before the world, yet in their hearts there is unspoken fear. They are afraid of words and thoughts; words spoken abroad, thoughts stirring at home — all the more powerful because forbidden — terrify them. A little mouse of thought appears in the room, and even the mightiest potentates are thrown into panic. They make frantic efforts to bar our thoughts and words; they are afraid of the workings of the human mind. Cannons, airplanes, they can manufacture in large quantities; but how are they to quell the natural promptings of human nature, which after all these centuries of trial and progress has inherited a whole armoury of potent and indestructible knowledge?"
React to this quote
More by Winston Churchill
See allResonant Thoughts
"Oblivious of Democritus, the unwilling materialists of our day have generally been awkwardly intellectual and quite incapable of laughter. If they have felt anything, they have felt melancholy. Their …"
— George Santayana
Literature1863–1952
Explore Further
Related Quotes
"We want the kind of world in which greedy people can do the least harm to their fellow men. That’s the kind…"
— Milton Friedman"The press is not only free, it is powerful. That power is ours. It is the proudest that man can enjoy. It w…"
— Benjamin Disraeli"Cat Power Music at The Greatest"
— Cat Power"There are many ways to be strong."
— Martin Firrell"Both the control of territory and the political domination of one state over another have profound conseque…"
— Robert Gilpin"Why China suddenly is a question? Of course, there has been the concern that they may not be giving loans t…"
— Jakaya Kikwete