Idioms Flashcards
Attitude
Remember that “Attitude is a little thing that makes a big difference,” as Churchill said.
Attitude
No matter what kind of shape your business is in, if your attitude is never, never, never give up, you stand a much better chance of succeeding. The folks you work with will pick up on your sincerity and conviction, and they’ll begin to operate the same way. And it will enable all of you to take the difficult steps necessary.
Why Churchill elected out from office
After saving his country from the brink of destruction, Churchill was forced out of office by a vote of the British people just before the end of the war in 1945.
Churchill was hurt but showed the classic British stiff upper lip by saying, “History will be kind to me — for I intend to write it.” Write it he did, a six-volume history called The Second World War, which was the primary reason he won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1953.
Churchill’s return
But history was going to be kind to him whether he wrote it or not. The British people returned him to the office of Prime Minister, 1951-1955. Queen Elizabeth offered to create Churchill as Duke of London, but he declined. In 1963, by an act of the U.S. Congress, he was the first living person named Honorary Citizen of the United States.
If You’re Going Through Hell, Keep Going -who Sai ?
Churchill
Like Prince Hal in Shakespeare’s Henry V, Churchill used language to rouse the fighting spirit he believed was still alive in the British people, saying, “If you’re going through hell, keep going.” And the line that summed up his personal career and the spirit that led the British people to victory: “Never, never, never give up.”
Churchill’s first speech
Churchill’s first speech to the British people as PM laid out his program bluntly, “I have nothing to offer but blood, toil, tears and sweat.” He followed that with another speech shortly thereafter: “. . . we shall fight on the seas and oceans, we shall fight with growing confidence and growing strength in the air, we shall defend our island, whatever the cost may be, we shall fight on the beaches, we shall fight on the landing grounds, we shall fight in the fields and in the streets, we shall fight in the hills; we shall never surrender.”
Temperament
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Don’t be afraid of being different; be afraid of being the same as everyone else.
Most people like to be the same as everyone else. They appear to be afraid of what others may think of them, so they take pains to not be different, to not be singled out. It takes someone with confidence and self-esteem to go their own way, without regard to what the majority think. These type people are the strong individuals; they are independent and think for themselve
jaywalk
cross or walk in the street or road unlawfully or without regard for approaching traffic.
“you jaywalked across a busy four-lane street”
(Not) Make head or nail of sth
(not) make heads or tails of something
to not be able to understand something at all:
We couldn’t make heads or tails of your directions.
can't make head nor tail of sth us also can't make heads or tails of sth to not be able to understand something: I can't make head nor tail of these instructions on the packet.
Gem , polish , without trials
A gem cannot be polished without friction, nor a man perfected without trials.
