Never, never, never give up

False Quotes and Real Hope

In the past few days, I’ve come across a Winston Churchill quote that seemed prescient for this moment in my life. I hadn’t been looking for this quote, but it has serendipitously made its way into my life via things that I’ve read lately.

“Never, never, never give up.”

I’ve repeated it like a mantra in the past couple of days, slowly going over each word.

NEVER

NEVER

NEVER

GIVE

UP

Now, because I am who I am, I actually did some research and it turns out that Churchill never actually said those exact words. The made up quote seems to have been a summary of a speech he gave on October 29, 1941, amidst the Second World War. Here’s the actual quote where it seems that the summary or interpretation was made from:

“…Never give in, never give in, never, never, never, never—in nothing, great or small, large or petty—never give in except to convictions of honour and good sense.”

The whole speech is great. And even that section to “never give in” is inspiring, no doubt.

But right now, it’s the apocryphal quote that’s helping me get through this season in my life. Does it matter that the quote is false? To me, it doesn’t. Whether Churchill actually said it or a Tumblr teen misrepresented it, that sentiment is still powerful and useful in my life.

This energy, this feeling to NEVER give up is fueling me right now. I even made this graphic for you as well, below.

Thanks for reading.

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(There are so many false or misrepresented quotes that you can further read for fun.)

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