Did Churchill Really Say That?

It's funny where we find inspiration.

It can be when you're crashed out on the sofa watching one of those programmes where someone struggles against adversity and somehow their challenge just clicks with you.

You watch them, feel empathy and a sense of inner challenge. You notice your own motivation stirring. 

'Right, if that person can climb a mountain with only one leg, a slice of Ryvita and the sepia toned memory of a tragic loved one to spur them on, then I can probably tie my trainers up and drag my arse round the park.'

Or perhaps you reach the end of a cycle of being ineffective and are suddenly fully bored by your own continuous apathy and excuses. You decide to make your commitment more, well, committed.

Or sometimes you just read a quote and it clicks.

Bigmouth Strikes Again

There are loads of great quotes out there. The internet brings pithy motivational quotes to us on a daily basis somehow. I don't ask for them but somehow they seem to turn up. And every now and again something really, really clicks.

Not all the quotes you'll come across are necessarily true mind. Well, they may be true but they're very likely to be wrongly attributed.

As Einstein himself once said "Don't believe everything you read on the internet."

The image at the top of the email is a photo of a bust left to me by my late Grandad John. I like it a lot because it reminds me of my Grandad. The bust sat proudly in his home for years and years.

I like it for that reason but also because I like lots of the brilliant quotes Churchill is famous for, like when he said "an empty car pulled up at Downing Street and Attlee got out".

Apart from he probably never said that.

Fake Plastic Trees

I'm reading a book by Otto English called Fake History and in the very first chapter I've learned that all the fantastic quotes we believe Churchill to have uttered, like that one, are probably completely untrue.

"You're drunk!" the Labour MP Bessie Braddock accused him.

"And you're ugly," replied Churchill, "but in the morning I will be sober."

Withering and funny but also highly unlikely to be true.

This really matters for historical accuracy but for comedic purposes is a shame.

Same goes for when Nancy Astor told him that if she were married to him, she would put poison in his coffee. To which he replied if that was the case he'd drink it!

Never happened. Not true.

Likewise, the words "If you are going through hell, keep going" never passed his lips.

Apparently that line has only been attributed to him since the mid 1990s. Which, coincidentally, is when the internet really started to get going.

But, but, but. It's a great line. It is great advice.

Say Something

It is great advice whether Churchill said it or not. I like to think he did, (even though he didn't) and that's one quote that sticks with me, regardless.

It's a useful line to remember when you need to stick with something difficult. Attributing it to Churchill rather than 'anonymous' gives it useful clout rather than academic accuracy.

Which quotes inspire you? Which quotes do you fall back on and use as motivation to get things done? Regardless of where they originated and to whom they are attributed.

This weekend take the opportunity to remind yourself of them. And take a moment to think about how you could apply a quote that resonates, in order to meet your latest challenge.

What She Said

I'll leave you with my favourite quote.

It's a very inspiring one that suits a procrastinator like me because it kind of lets me off the hook gently for not getting stuff done so far, but also says 'get up and do it now anyway'.

"The best time to plant a tree is twenty years ago. The second best time is now."

That's it. No idea who said it. Let's pretend it was Gandhi.

Let me know what your favourite lines are and how they motivate you.