Anthony McCarten

Winston Churchill Monologues

You can not reason with a tiger when your head is in its mouth.

Those who never change their mind never change anything.

Nations which go down fighting rise again, and those that surrender tamely are finished

Please tell the Privy Seal that I'm sealed in the privy and I can only deal with one shit at a time.

Will you stop interrupting me while I am interrupting you!

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

I'm getting the job only because the ship is sinking. It's not a gift, it's revenge.

Turning once again to the question of invasion I would observe that there has never been a period in all these long centuries of which we boast, when an absolute guarantee against invasion could have been given to our people. I have, myself full confidence that if all do their duty, if nothing is neglected, and if the best arrangements are made, as they are being made, we shall prove ourselves once more able to defend our island home, to ride out the storm of war, and to outlive the menace of tyranny if necessary for years, if necessary alone. At any rate, that is what we are going to try to do. That is the resolve of His Majesty's Government every man of them. That is the will of Parliament and the nation. The British Empire and the French Republic, linked together in their cause and in their need, will defend to the death their native soil, aiding each other like good comrades to the utmost of their strength. Even though large tracts of Europe and many old and famous States have fallen or may fall into the grip of the Gestapo and all the odious apparatus of Nazi rule, we shall not flag or fail. We shall go on to the end. We shall fight in France, we shall fight on the seas and oceans, we shall fight with growing confidence and growing strength in the air, we shall defend our island whatever the cost may be. We shall fight on the beaches, we shall fight on the landing grounds, we shall fight in the fields and in the streets, we shall fight in the hills. We shall never surrender, and if, which I do not for a moment believe, this island or a large part of it were subjugated and starving, then our Empire beyond the seas, armed and guarded by the British Fleet, would carry on the struggle, until, in God's good time, the New World, with all its power and might, steps forth to the rescue and the liberation of the old!

My father was like God. Busy elsewhere.

Do I have your, uh, permission, uh, to send, uh, an aircraft carrier to pick up the P-40 fighter planes we purchased from you? Mr. President?

Uh, but we paid for them. We-we paid for them with the money that we… that we borrowed from you.

I have nothing to offer but blood, toil, tears and sweat.

But now one bond unites us all. To wage war until victory is won, and never to surrender ourselves to servitude and shame. Whatever the cost and the agony may be, conquer we must, as conquer we shall.

There is no doubt that if we falter at all in the leading of the nation we should all be hurled out of office.

HOW DARE YOU! Our troops were chewing barbed wire in Flanders and I saw it! Opening a second front, outflanking the Turks was a serious military idea and it could have damn well worked if the Admirals and the First Sea Lord hadn't dithered away the element of surprise!

D'you know, I've never ridden a bus? I've never queued for bread. I believe I can boil an egg... but only because I've seen it done. The only time I tried riding the Underground was during the General Strike. Clemmie dropped me off at South Kensington station. I went down but got lost. I came straight back up! It was awful.

The German army controls every French port except Dunkirk here and Calais here to the west, where the garrison under Brigadier Nicholson is drawing fire and delaying the German advance on Dunkirk. At both points, our troops are encircled. Now, we are still trying to clear Dunkirk Harbor of wrecked ships so that we can then land the boats we need to get our-our boys off those beaches. But enemy aircraft is attacking us constantly. Our… our only hope in Dunkirk is thick cloud cover to thwart these attacks, but the skies remain clear. And even then, I am told we still need a-a-a miracle to get even 10% of our men out. Courage, Miss Layton. Courage.

Stephen Hawking Monologues

There should be no boundaries to human endeavor. We are all different. However bad life may seem, there is always something you can do, and succeed at. While there's life, there is hope.

It is clear that we are just an advanced breed of primates on a minor planet orbiting around a very average star, in the outer suburb of one among a hundred billion galaxies. BUT, ever since the dawn of civilization people have craved for an understanding of the underlying order of the world. There ought to be something very special about the boundary conditions of the universe. And what can be more special than that there is no boundary? And there should be no boundary to human endeavor. We are all different. However bad life may seem, there is always something you can do, and succeed at. While there is life, there is hope.

What is the nature of time? Will it ever come to an end? Can we go back in time? Some day these answers may seem as obvious to us as the Earth orbiting the sun, or perhaps as ridiculous as a tower of tortoises. Only time, that's what we say.

I was stopped recently by a tourist in Cambridge, who asked if I was the real Stephen Hawking. I replied I was not, and said the real one was much better looking.

I now predict that I was wrong.

No, this is a black hole theory.

I think you'll find the equations are mine, but good point. Let's put a copyright symbol on the front page to avoid conflict.

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