Participants of near political discussions love to quote the British prime minister: “Who was not a radical in his youth (option - Liberal. - Approx. Ed.), He does not have a heart who did not become a conservative in maturity, he has no intelligence.” We checked whether Churchill said this.

In various variations of a winged phrase, a liberal or revolutionary is mentioned instead of a radical, instead of youth - 25 or 40 years old. It is customary to associate a quote with Churchill everywhere. This was done by the head of the GKChP Gennady Yanaev (explaining why he went to the political advance quite late), TV presenter Vladimir Pozner And the writer Alexey Ivanov. The statement of Churchill's authorship in a biographical bestseller fell "Thatcher: Unknown Maggie" And in all kinds of Collections of aphorisms.

The first thing that catches the eye when studying Russian-speaking literature with variations of this phrase is that it received popularity in the country of advice only in the second half of the 1970s, many years after Churchill's death. Moreover, "with a French accent." So, in 1977, her attributed The Prime Minister of the Government of Collaborators Pierre Laval, and in 1988 - his predecessor The time of the First World War George Clemanso. In both cases, instead of a radical or liberal, a socialist was mentioned. Another French prime minister, Raymon Poincare, was invested in the mouth in 1985 statement: "Gentlemen, I am sorry for those who were not a revolutionary in his youth." But their British colleague Soviet literature did not mention this context.

There is an explanation for this. The fact is that the oldest mention of variations of this phrase in printed sources refers precisely to France. The site quoteinvestigator.com claims that for the first time it appeared in 1875 in the collection of biographical portraits of the authorship of Jules Clareti. The section dedicated to the former Minister of Education Anselm Batby contained a quote from his letter: “Celui qui n’est pas républicain à vings fait douter de la générosité de son âme; Mais Celui Qui, Après Trente Ans, Persévère, Fait Douter de la Rectitude de Son Esprit, which can be translated as “who is not a republican at 20 years old, raises doubts about the generosity of his soul; But who persists in this after 30, raises doubts about the correctness of his mind. ” In the book, this statement is called the "Paradox of Berka." Briton Edmund Burk, the ancestor of the theory of conservatism, first resolutely supported the American revolution, but then the French revolution was just as decisively.

However, an attentive search allows you to find it in a more old edition - the book of Felix Pond 1870–71, OU UNE PAGE D'Histoire; Administration et Guerrerepublished in 1873. Here, the quote is also attributed to Edmund Burka, but at the same time without a reference to Minister Batby. It is quite possible, however, that Sort could see Batby's letter, quoted above.

In 1888, Batby's statement fell into the French 31-volume “Big Encyclopedia”, and since then his evolution began, accompanied by numerous connections with celebrities. So, in 1916, already in English, writer Victor Hugo attributed The words: "If a person is not a Republican at 20, then this is because he does not have a mind, and if he is a republican at 40 years old, then this is because he has no brains."

Only seven years have passed, and Wall Street Journal invested in the mouth of the Swedish king Oscar II Aphorism “At a person who was not a socialist until 25 years old, there is no heart. If he remained a socialist after 25, he has no brains. ” In 1936, in the Benham’s Book of Quotations Proverbs and HouseHold Words, a similar quote was attributed to the next head of the French government Francois Gizo. True, with a remark, that a similar statement is associated with the already mentioned above Georges Clemanso. And by 1944 the phrase had already turned into a full -fledged joke:

“Once an excited supporter burst into the personal account of the old Tiger Clemanso and exclaimed:“ Your son just joined the Communist Party. ” Clemanso calmly looked at his visitor and remarked: "Sir, my son is 22 years old. If he had not become a communist at 22, I would have renounced him. If he was still a communist at the age of 30, then I will do it."

In 1977, in the next meeting of aphorisms Entered The “Quote” this time the famous British politician of the 19th century Benjamin Dizraeli: “The one who was not a liberal at the age of 16 has no heart; One who did not become a conservative by 60, there is no head. " And only in 1986, in English -language publications, the already famous Aphorism and the British Prime Minister of the 20th century met with each other: "Winston S. Churchill allegedly noticed that one who was not 20 years old has no heart, and the one who remained a liberal by the age of 40."

It happened in the Connecttikutsk newspaper The Hartford Courant. It is unnecessary to say that such a quote is not found in Churchill's archives. The website of the International Society of Churchill gives an opinion on this score of Paul Eddison - a British historian and author of two biographies of the British Prime Minister:

“I am sure that Churchill could not pronounce the words that they attribute to him. He was a conservative of 15 and a liberal of 35! And he would respond so disrespectful about the terminals (his wife Clementine. - Approx. Ed.), Which, as it is believed, was a liberal all his life? ”

And this quote replenishes a rather extensive collection The winged phrases that Sir Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill never pronounced.