Neulich habe ich gelernt, dass Zitate, die fälschlicherweise Winston Churchill zugeschrieben werden, unter die Bezeichnung “Churchillian Drift” fallen (Begriff geprägt von Nigel Rees, 1993). Es waren auch Beispiele dabei. Und die fand ich teilweise so verblĂĽffend, dass ich sie hier gerne teile, auf dass sie auch andere verwundern mögen:
- Agreement = “If two people agree on everything, one of them is unnecessary.” — no attribution.
- Common Language = “Britain and America are two nations divided by a common language.” — Oscar Wilde.
- Dog = “Every dog has his day.” — no attribution.
- Fanatic = “A fanatic is someone who won’t change his mind and won’t change the subject.” — no attribution.
- Hell = “If you’re going through hell, keep going.” — no attribution.
- Lunch = “There ain’t no free lunch.” — Rudyard Kipling.
- Golf = “A curious sport whose object is to put a very small ball in a very small hole with implements ill-designed for the purpose.” — no attribution.
- History = “Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.” — George Santayana.
- Lies = “There are three kinds of lies: lies, damn lies and statistics.” — Benjamin Disraeli.
- Never = “Never Give In” or “Never give up.” — Maxims, Perseverance, St. Francis de Sales.
- Poison in Your Coffee = Nancy Astor: “If I were married to you, I’d put poison in your coffee.” Churchill: If I were your husband, I’d drink it.” — popularised by F.E. Smith (Lord Birkenhead), a much heavier drinker than Churchill.
- Prepositions, Ending Sentences in = “This is the kind of pedantic nonsense up with which I will not put” — Strand Magazine, unnamed author.
- Prisoner of War = “A prisoner of war is a man who tries to kill you and fails, and then asks you not to kill him.” — no attribution.
- Simple Tastes = “I am a man of simple tastes — I am quite easily satisfied with the best of everything.” — F.E. Smith, (Lord Birkenhead).
- Speech = “Please excuse the length of this letter, I had no time to write a short one.” — Blaise Pascal.
- The Irish = “We have always found the Irish a bit odd. They refuse to be English.” — no attribution.
- Troubles = “Most of the things I have worried about never ended up happening.” — Mark Twain or Thomas Jefferson.
- Whisky = “If you mean whisky, the devil’s brew, the poison scourge, the bloody monster that defiles innocence, dethrones reason, destroys the home, creates misery and poverty … I am opposed to it with every fibre of my being. However, if you mean the oil of conversation, the philosophic wine, the elixir of life … Then my friend, I am absolutely, unequivocally in favour of it.” — no attribution, though Churchill might have shared the sentiment.