If you're not a liberal when you're 25, you have no heart. If you're not a conservative by the time you're 35, you have no brain.
About this quote
- What does it mean?
- Churchill suggests that idealism is natural in youth while pragmatism is necessary in maturity, linking heart and brain to political shifts.
- In plain terms
- Young people tend to be liberal while older ones tend to be conservative.
- What can you take from it?
- Political views often shift from idealism to pragmatism with age.
Where it applies
Putting it to work
Questions to consider
- Why do views change with age?
- Is one stance better than the other?
Another view
People can remain liberal or conservative regardless of age.
More from Winston Churchill
Unknown MP sitting behind Churchill on the back benches during his twilight years, to adjacent colleague, sotto voce: He's not what he used to be. They say he'…
Permalink to quote #211 An empty taxi arrived and out of it stepped Attlee.
Permalink to quote #213 Churchill: Madam, would you sleep with me for five million pounds? Socialite: My goodness, Mr. Churchill... Well, I suppose... we would have to discuss terms, …
Permalink to quote #210
Related quotes
'Good for you, you have a heart, you can be a liberal. Now, couple your heart with your brain, and you can be a conservative.'
Glenn BeckGlenn Beck quote #7 Thanks to its chokehold on the nation's culture, liberalism is thus in power whether its politicians are elected or not; it rules over us even though Republica…
Thomas FrankThomas Frank quote #9 There is a process of slow modification and development mainly in directions which I view with misgiving. 'Tory democracy,' the favourite idea on that side, is…
William Ewart GladstoneWilliam Ewart Gladstone quote #24