"I have nothing to offer but blood, toil, tears and sweat".......

[1949threepence 3,366]

........which is the wording underneath Churchill's portrait on the £5 note.

Out of context it sounds so depressing and defeatist. I would much have preferred "we shall never surrender". In or out of context that sounds much more in line with the stubborn, defiant, never say die British Bulldog spirit.  

Others will undoubtedly disagree, but I just thought I'd share that random thought on here, before it disappeared into the ether, until the next time I was reminded of it.  

 

[secret santa 2,013]

4 hours ago, 1949threepence said:

the stubborn, defiant, never say die British Bulldog spirit.  

I think I can remember that............................................................................................................maybe not

[Sword 1,330]

 "I have nothing to offer but blood, toil, tears and sweat" is an extremely powerful statement in my view. It embraces the spirit of achieving a just goal at any personal cost. It is a statement of extreme determination. It's all an individual can give.

"We shall never surrender" is obviously a strong statement too. However, it is only an aspiration or target in war. The Japanese army obviously believed in that, but they did end up surrendering due to use of previously unknown atomic weapons. I think it is wrong to order soldiers to fight to the last man just to delay an inevitable defeat.

However, surrendering on the battle field, is not the same as surrendering one's ideals. 

 

[damian1986 142]

On 7/25/2020 at 10:38 AM, 1949threepence said:

much more in line with the stubborn, defiant, never say die British Bulldog spirit.  

 

On 7/25/2020 at 2:48 PM, secret santa said:

I think I can remember that............................................................................................................maybe not

I prefer the chosen quote as a statement of effort. 

We rank 2nd in the list of number of Nobel Laureates by country with 132, 8th in the Ease of Doing Business Index and ranked 2nd the Global Innovation Index in 2015. So we're doing something right.  

43rd for Expenditure on Education and 34th for net exports by capita isn't quite so good. Which is why I like the quote they went with. Crack on. 

Aside: 2nd in the world for Prevalance of Cocaine Usage 🏆