Skip to content
quotesby

About this quote

What does it mean?
When killing someone, politeness costs nothing.
In plain terms
You can be polite even when you have to kill a man.
What can you take from it?
Politeness can be maintained in extreme actions.

Where it applies

  • military conduct
  • ethical debates

Putting it to work

  • maintain professionalism
  • separate demeanor from act

Questions to consider

  • Does politeness affect moral judgment?
  • Can civility coexist with violence?

Another view

It trivializes the gravity of killing.

More from Winston Churchill

  1. When the eagles are silent, the parrots begin to jabber.

    Permalink to quote #195
  2. When I was younger I made it a rule never to take strong drink before lunch. It is now my rule never to do so before breakfast.

    Permalink to quote #197
  3. When I look back on all these worries, I remember the story of the old man who said on his deathbed that he had had a lot of trouble in his life, most of which…

    Permalink to quote #194

Related quotes

  1. No attempt of any kind must be made at rescuing members of ships sunk, and this includes picking up persons in the water and putting them in lifeboats, rightin…

    Karl DonitzKarl Donitz quote #1
  2. Violence is, of course, alien to our ideals.

    Vladimir LeninVladimir Lenin quote #1
  3. Conscription if necessary, but not necessarily conscription.

    William Lyon Mackenzie KingWilliam Lyon Mackenzie King quote #1