“Without tradition, art is a flock of sheep without a shepherd. Without innovation, it is a corpse.”

“I am easily satisfied with the very best.”

“The best argument against democracy is a five-minute conversation with the average voter.”

“In war as in life, it is often necessary when some cherished scheme has failed, to take up the best alternative open, and if so, it is folly not to work for it with all your might.”

“The short words are best, and the old words are the best of all.”

“It is no use saying, 'We are doing our best.' You have got to succeed in doing what is necessary.”

“Short words are best and the old words when short are best of all.”

“I am certainly not one of those who need to be prodded. In fact, if anything, I am the prod.”

“Politics is not a game. It is an earnest business.”

“No part of the education of a politician is more indispensable than the fighting of elections.”

“All the great things are simple, and many can be expressed in a single word: freedom, justice, honor, duty, mercy, hope.”

“A joke is a very serious thing.”

“I am always ready to learn although I do not always like being taught.”

“You have enemies? Good. That means you've stood up for something, sometime in your life.”

“In the course of my life, I have often had to eat my words, and I must confess that I have always found it a wholesome diet.”

“My rule of life prescribed as an absolutely sacred rite smoking cigars and also the drinking of alcohol before, after and if need be during all meals and in the intervals between them.”

“Nothing in life is so exhilarating as to be shot at without result.”

“If you're going through hell, keep going.”

“Those who can win a war well can rarely make a good peace and those who could make a good peace would never have won the war.”

“I am fond of pigs. Dogs look up to us. Cats look down on us. Pigs treat us as equals.”

“Success consists of going from failure to failure without loss of enthusiasm.”

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

“In war as in life, it is often necessary when some cherished scheme has failed, to take up the best alternative open, and if so, it is folly not to work for it with all your might.”