...every offensive lost its force as it proceeded. It was like throwing a bucket of water over the floor. It first rushed forward, then soaked forward, and finally stopped altogether until another bucket could be brought.

When you have to kill a man, it costs nothing to be polite.

The only traditions of the Royal Navy are rum, sodomy and the lash.

It is a fine game to play - the game of politics - and it is well worth waiting for a good hand before really plunging.

Nothing is more dangerous in wartime than to live in the temperamental atmosphere of a Gallup Poll, always feeling ones pulse and taking ones temperature. I see that a speaker at the week-end said that this was a time when leaders should keep their ears to the ground. All I can say is that the British nation will find it very hard to look up to leaders who are detected in that somewhat ungainly posture.

It is better to do the wrong thing that to do nothing.

The definition of courage is going from defeat to defeat with enthusiasm.