Winston Churchill is universally regarded as the greatest Prime Minister of Great Britain, with Margaret Thatcher in the second position. Those two Prime Ministers were significant players in defining the 20th century for the better, separated by just roughly 40 years. Simply incredible.

And while Mr. Churchill was a passionate and determined leader — who played a direct role in the Allied Forces success during World War II — his talents while off-the-clock included painting and writing literature. Perhaps he was an unanticipated Renaissance Man of his time, but he was one by definition and his wide-ranging talent.

As a matter of fact, Mr. Churchill won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1953.

As a matter of more fact, Mr. Churchill’s legacy as Great Britain’s necessary Prime Minister in the darkest hour of its existence — 1940-1945 and later in peacetime from 1950-1955 — was cemented, in part, because of his inspirational words regarding not only the hellish nature of war but also the aspirational nature of life itself.

It’s always a good time to revisit such an enduring giant of world history. Today, this flashback is a reminder of his words on a variety of worthy subjects that are inspirational in the very least and life-altering at best.

Winston Churchill certainly succeeded in historic fashion with a lasting consequence felt today, but it’s also known that he had his fair share of consequential failure (#4). And I cannot think of a better quote by Mr. Churchill that better defines Mr. Churchill, whether he was being admired in the brightest spotlight by the public while facing down the darkest evils of the world in the 1940s or whether he was merely sitting in a chair in the corner of some room pondering his next thought.

“Success is not final, failure is not fatal, it is the courage to continue that counts.”
–Winston Churchill