There is no situation
to which it cannot address itself with vigour and ingenuity.
It is the citadel of British liberty.
It is the foundation of our laws.
Speech on the
House of Commons in the House of Commons, October 28, 1942
Many forms of
Government have been tried, and will be tried in this world of sin and
woe… No one pretends
that democracy is perfect or all-wise. Indeed it has been said that democracy is the worst form of
government except all those other forms that have been tried from time
to time.
Speech in the
House on the Parliament Bill, November 11, 1947
In both our lands, it
is the people who control the Government, not the Government the
people.
Oslo, May 13,
1948
Elections exist for
the sake of the House of Commons and not the House of Commons for the
sake of elections.
Speech in the
House, November 3, 1953
[Sir Winston was
explaining that even a Parliament with a small majority ought, if
possible, to run most of its course. Annual elections might turn the
House into a 'vote-catching machine looking for a
springboard."]
The essence and
foundation of House of Commons debating is formal conversation.
The set speech, the harangues addressed to constituents, or to the
wider public out of doors, has never succeeded much in our small,
wisely build chamber.
'Great
Contemporaries'
[The old House
of Commons, destroyed in the blitz, held only about two-thirds of
the elected members. It was, and its new edition is,
rectangular, in contrast to other legislative chambers, which are
semicircular. The advantages of opponents facing each other instead
of being adjacent are very great.]
It is not Parliament
that should rule; it is the people who should rule through Parliament.
House of
Commons, November 11, 1947