2016年9月15日 星期四

Churchill x 3

最近, 我看了三本邱吉爾的書. 

他實在很大名氣, 也很聰明. 但, 有關他的書不是本本都好. 









二次大戰很複雜, 很多國家及政要將軍, 書內很多軍事名詞, 人名. 看得我一頭霧水. 我對戰爭沒有興趣, 他本人的軼事反而少. 所以, 覺得此書普通. 














很努力的把現代管理人, 國家元首與邱吉爾的事蹟寫入書內, 但, 都是很枯燥的內容, 很多有名的演講辭又沒有提及. 我看了很久, 也是一本很普通的書. 




有次我受邀為法國一座紀念碑撰文, 「作戰時, 奮戰到底; 挫敗時, 全力還擊; 勝利時, 心存寬厚; 和平時, 友好親善」
他的作品都很有力量, 很鼓舞人心. 

一個人不可能在一天裡受傷兩次.
這是游說一個受傷軍人出戰的策略. 

領袖必需有所犧牲才能贏得追隨.

要得到好點子, 最好的辦法是有很多點子.

無論空襲有多可怕, 卻不能單靠空襲摧毀一個國家. 就當時的損傷判斷, 他估計需要花十年才能摧毀半數房屋, 並以他慣常的氣魄補了一句「而十年之內, 希特勒和納粹政權就會碰上很多事了. 」


羅斯福 You see, Mr. President, I have nothing to hide. 
傳聞一次羅找邱, 他剛沖涼完畢及只圍住浴巾. 因為給總統嚇了一跳, 浴巾甩了.... 











New York Times Best Seller, 不是浪得虛名. 寫得生動, 有他的個人興趣, 看起來很立體. 










年輕時英俊, 這好似是結婚前的照片. 
他學業成績不佳, 但英文及歷史最了得. 之後的成就都與此有關. 
書內說他很喜歡戰爭, 所以十分投入. 
也大膽, 當年飛機很危險, 但他身居高位經常坐飛機, 後來家人勸告才停止. 









有貴族的背景, 看他的衣著及神態就明白. 











他喜歡畫畫及砌磚. 
是個懶運動的人. 

Conservation of energy. Never stand up when you can sit down, and never sit down when you can lie down.

但, 得天獨厚, 食雪茄, 飲酒, 又肥胖, 但90歲死. 得了國葬的榮譽. 










現在這個手勢被譏為港女. 









A soldier needs war, and Churchill needed it more than most, for he could turn war into words, and so into cash. But if you sat still, expecting wars to come to you, you might be starved of action.

His chief contribution, he felt, was to voice the British view all over the world. So memorable speeches were made before immense audiences.

He also saw the afterlife as “some kind of velvety cool blackness”.  Perhaps I may be reborn as a Chinese coolie. You know, those were the people employed in South Africa… I said that to call them slaves would be to be guilty of a terminological inexactitude. Oh, how glorious English words are!
傲氣的他大概想不到, 當年口中的奴隸, 咕哩, 幾十年後是強國.   

His last words were: “I am bored with it all.”” The journey has been enjoyable and well worth making – once!”

In his ninety years, Churchill has spent fifty-five years as a member of Parliament, thirty-one years as a minister, and nearly nine years as prime minister. He had been present at or fought in fifteen battles, and had been awarded fourteen campaign medals, some with multiple clasps.
的確了不起, 也有個性. 



Churchill wasted an extraordinary small amount of his time and emotional energy on the meannesses of life: recrimination, shifting the blame onto others, malice, revenge seeking, dirty tricks, spreading rumors, harboring grudges, waging vendettas. There is nothing more draining and exhausting than hatred. And malice is bad for judgment. Nothing gave him more pleasure than to replace enmity with friendship, not least with the Germans.

每本傳記都會對主角讚不絕口. 

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