It helps to write down half a dozen things which are worrying me. Two of them, say, disappear; about two of them nothing can be done, so it's no use worrying; and two perhaps can be settled.

It is more agreeable to have the power to give than to receive.

If Britain must choose between Europe and the open sea, she must always choose the open sea.

Nothing makes a man more reverent than a library.

There is no merit in putting off a war for a year if, when it comes, it is far worse or much harder to win.

We shall show mercy, but we shall not ask for it.

Nobody ever launched an attack without having misgivings beforehand, You ought to have misgivings before; but when the moment of action is come, the hour of misgivings is passed. It is often not possible to go backward from a course which has been adopted in war. A man must answer "Aye" or "No" to the great questions which are put, and by that decision he must be bound.