Did Churchill say: “If you're going through hell, keep going”?

Former British Prime Minister Winston Churchill is often credited with the aphorism that you should never give up, even in the most difficult situations. We checked whether Churchill really said this.

Many onlinequotation books These words are attributed to Churchill. These words, allegedly said by a British politician, can be found in Media And social networks, both in Russian and in English. This phrase was also quoted, indicating the authorship of Churchill, by the former US Secretary of State James Baker, actress Sharon Stone and American entrepreneur Elon Musk. In addition, the National Churchill Museum in the USA turned on This statement is included in the list of memorable quotes from a British politician.

IN booklet, compiled by the National Churchill Museum in the United States, it is written that the collection of Churchill’s works and speeches is one of the most frequently cited sources, second only to the Bible and William Shakespeare. The same booklet contains a list of his best sayings, along with their sources: speeches, writings, or transcripts of debates. The list also includes a quote about hell: “If you are going through hell, keep going.” However, the exact source is not indicated specifically under this phrase. Other quotation books also do not specify where and when Churchill could have uttered or written these words.

On the Internet you can find two popular options for ending a quote: “keep going” (keep going) and “don’t stop” (don’t stop). We were unable to find any of these formulations in the most complete collections all known documents and speeches of Churchill, which was collected by the Churchill Archives Center at the University of Cambridge. Research International Churchill Society, too asserts, that the quote about hell is not mentioned either in his works or in works written about him. Churchill scholar Richard Langworth, which amounted to collection quotes from the British statesman “Churchill on his own: in his own words”, placed a quote about hell in the section “Red Herrings: False Quotes”.

As the portal found out Quote Investigator, the earliest mention of this quote can be found in the Christian Science Sentinel, a religion magazine dated October 30, 1943. John Randall Dunn, author of one of the articles, described A dialogue that took place between two men whose names remain unknown: “Someone once asked a man how he was feeling. He replied: “I am going through hell!” His friend said: “Keep going. There’s no point in stopping there!” 

Then why did this phrase begin to be attributed to Churchill? The misattribution may have gained popularity following the publication of Dick Bernal's religious book "When Lucifer and Jezebel Come to Your Church"in 1994. This work begins with three quotes:

“Life is just a test. This is just a test." Kevin Gerald
"When you're going through hell, don't stop." Mario Murillo
"Never, never, never stop." Sir Winston Churchill

In Dick Bernal's book, the quote about hell was attributed to the American preacher Mario Murillo. It is possible that the proximity of his aphorism to Churchill’s quote led to confusion and the subsequent spread of false attribution.

Churchill's phrase, "If you're going through hell, keep going," was first mentioned in the Illinois newspaper Herald & Review in 1995. Author notes Regarding the Archer stockholders' meeting, Daniels Midland writes: “Andreas concluded the meeting by admitting that he and the company had fallen on hard times recently. He said that Mulroney (former Canadian Prime Minister Brian Mulroney - ed.) asked him if the press had given him hell. When Andreas said she did, Mulroney quoted Sir Winston Churchill: “If you're going through hell, keep going.” Thus, according to the Herald & Review, it was former Canadian Prime Minister Brian Mulroney who first publicly attributed the quote to his British counterpart. After this, the phrase began to be used more and more often as a statement by Winston Churchill. It began to spread on the RuNet only in 2013. blogs And collections quotes, but immediately after the “authorship” of Churchill.

Thus, we were unable to find any evidence in the academic literature or archival documents published by researchers that the quote “If you're going through hell, keep going” belongs to Churchill. A phrase similar to this aphorism first appeared in a Christian magazine in 1943, during Churchill’s lifetime. And they began to mistakenly attribute the quote specifically to the British politician many years after his death in 1965.

Cover image: WikiMedia

Incorrect quote attribution

What do our verdicts mean?

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