邱吉爾的忠告 - NEVER GIVE IN!

1941年10月29日，當年的六月，盟軍登陸了法國諾曼地的海灘，歐洲反擊戰已在進行。當天英國首相重回他的母校哈勞公學，在一個學生演唱會之後向同學致辭，演詞裡，有以下一段:

Never give in, never give in, never, never, never, never-in nothing, great or small, large or petty - never give in except to convictions of honour and good sense.

對這位政治生涯由維多利亞女皇開始到伊利沙伯二世告終的西方文明拯救者丶預言家、水彩畫家、歷史的諦造和紀錄者來說，失敗，其實一直在他的左右同行。

由兒時的口齒不清、Sandhurst軍校入學試的兩次不合格，多次被迫出執政內閣和即使在戰勝納粹後以國家英雄身份參選國會遭遇的落選，支持邱吉爾一次一次從谷底上爬的是永不放棄的精神、強烈使命感帶來的自信和獨有的幽默。三者混合出來的，就是邱吉爾的寫照。

"Success is not final, failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that counts. "

根據BBC傳記電視劇<The Gathering Storm>，Ralph Wigram，一位在大戰前向邱吉爾揭露納粹德國擴建空軍的外交部官員，與當時正被政治放逐的邱吉爾有以下對話:

Winston Churchill: There may be a war. I grant you that. Nevertheless we shall win.

Ralph Wigram: How can you say that? It's just mindless optimism.

WC: When I was at school, I had a friend called Merlind Evans. And one day we were talking about what we would do when we were grown up. And I don't know why I said this, or, why I thought it, but I said, "One day in the future, Britain will be in great danger, and it will fall to *me* to save London and the Empire."

RW: Schoolboy fantasy. I wanted to play for England or climb Everest.

WC: My destiny. And I truly believe it.

RW: You're an extraordinary man, Winston.

WC: I am, I know it.

RW: Nobody but you could say that sort of thing and expect people to believe it.

WC: Destiny is what I believe in. Destiny commands. We must obey.

1940年6月4日，是戰時英國最孤立的日子，法國早前向德國投降，滯留歐洲大陸的英軍要在鄧扣克登上運輸艦，撤退回國。行動完成後，邱吉爾在國會發表<We Shall Fight Them On The Beaches>演說，結束後，在全體議員雷動的拍枱支持聲後，邱吉爾向旁邊的同僚細聲說:

"And we’ll fight them with the butt ends of broken beer bottles because that’s bloody well all we’ve got!"

典型的邱吉爾。

今天是邱吉爾的138歲生日。Happy Birthday! Sir Winston。

必看推介:

曾為4位美國總統撰寫演詞的James C. Humes，寫作生涯由邱吉爾的啟發而開始，在一次對科羅拉多大學Colorado Springs分校學生的演講中，重新演譯首相的知名演說和分享他的軼聞。- 影片連結

伸展閱讀 - 

邱吉爾生平:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Winston_Churchill
邱吉爾的軼聞:
http://www.bizbag.com/Churchill/winston_churchill_anecdotes.htm
邱吉爾演詞全集:
http://www.winstonchurchill.org/learn/speeches/speeches-of-winston-churchill

BBC的邱吉爾傳記劇:
<The Gathering Storm>

經典邱吉爾演說錄音:
<Finest Hour>
<We Shall Fight On The Beaches>
<Never Was So Much Owed By So Many To So Few>
<The End Of The Beginning>
<The Iron Curtain>

 by the HouseNews