QuoteProject
In time of war, soldiers, however sensible, care a great deal more on some occasions about slaking their thirst than about the danger of enteric fever. Better known as typhoid, the disease is often spread by drinking contaminated water.
Winston Churchill
ShareWTF𝕏

Interpretation

What this quote means

In times of crisis, basic human needs often override concerns for safety and health.

This quote by Winston Churchill highlights how in situations of extreme stress, such as war, soldiers may prioritize immediate physical needs, like quenching their thirst, over more abstract concerns such as the risk of disease. It underscores the instinctual nature of survival, where basic desires can overshadow rational fears, illustrating the human condition in dire circumstances.

Themes

WarSurvivalThirstHealthDanger

In practice

Example use cases

During a military training seminar, to illustrate the importance of prioritizing immediate needs.

More from Winston Churchill

It is a socialist idea that making profits is a vice; I consider the real vice is making losses.
Winston ChurchillRead
The United States is like a gigantic boiler. Once the fire is lit under it, there's no limit to the power it can generate.
Winston ChurchillRead
Politics is almost as exciting as war, and quite as dangerous. In war you can only be killed once, but in politics many times.
Winston ChurchillRead
I will not pretend that if I had to choose between communism and Nazism I would choose communism.
Winston ChurchillRead
Mountaintops inspire leaders but valleys mature them.
Winston ChurchillRead
True genius resides in the capacity for evaluation of uncertain, hazardous, and conflicting information.
Winston ChurchillRead

Similar quotes

I got into therapy in the fifth grade because I said in a sarcastic way that I was going to kill myself, and they didn't get it then. Nothing's changed.
Fiona AppleRead
At Waco, was there really an urgency to get those people out of the compound at that particular time? Was the press going to make it look heroic for the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms? At Ruby Ridge, there was one guy in a cabin at the top of the mountain. Was it necessary for federal agents to go up there and shoot a 14-year-old in the back and shoot a woman with a child in her arms? What kind of mentality does that?
Clint EastwoodRead
Freedom is never granted. It is earned by each generation... In the face of tyranny, cruelty, oppression, extremism, sometimes there is only one choice. When the world looks to America, America looks to you, and you never let her down.
Hillary ClintonRead
It is rather for us here dedicated to the great task remaining before us, that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion.
Abraham LincolnRead
Have you ever been hated, or discriminated against_x000D_ I have, I’ve been protested and demonstrated against.
EminemRead
Do not be afraid of defeat. You are never so near victory as when you are defeated in a good cause.
Henry Ward BeecherRead

A little wisdom, now and then

Subscribe for the occasional hand-picked quote. No noise.

Quote by Winston Churchill | QuoteProject