Never Give In! The Best of Winston Churchill's Speeches

For several decades now, I have been a "Churchillian". In other words, I am an admirer of Britain's greatest Prime Minister in the 20th Century.

In fact, England has never had a Prime Minister as popular or as dynamic as this man from the 19th Century. Winston Churchill was born into an illustrious lineage. His dad was Randolph Churchill, who himself was a man of means and some political clout.

Churchill was a product of some of England's most prestigious institutions of learning. At an early age, he joined the Royal Scots Fusilliers. In his military career, Churchill gained battle experience in Sudan, South Africa and India.

Then he later went on to become a war correspondent and gained fame from his writings to some of the notable English dailies.
What propelled Churchill to the stratosphere of national prominence was his speeches in his career as an aspiring politician and later as the Prime Minister of Britain during the Second World War.

Churchill's war speeches became the stuff of history. One of the most famous quotes about Churchill was "he mobilised the English language and took it to war." The man who said it was right indeed.

Today, there are numerous books on Churchill's speeches. The Best of Winston Churchill's Speeches is a compilation of some of his most memorable words ever spoken.

I have long admired Winston Churchill's affinity with words English. He could fire the imagination of his audience in an instant and aroused their passions with a few choice words.

For example, "I have nothing to offer, except blood, toil, sweat and tears." And "we shall fight in the hills, we shall fight on the beaches, we shall fight on the streets, we shall never surrender!"

Even today about half a century after his death, Churchill's stirring words echoed across his motherland and sometimes across the globe. What made a man like Churchill so special?

Perhaps it could be his romantic attachment to battles, the smell of gunpowder, the wave of human emotions attached to inexorable human will to survive, the passion to excel and exceed beyond all expectations that brought out all those words from his awesome library of English words to the fore.

Whatever it was that excited Churchill, it cannot be denied that his speeches will long be remembered for their power to galvanise a nation to take up arms and fight victoriously against overwhelming odds.

It was Churchill who steered a frightened nations to the shores of victory in Normandy in the final months of the war. It was this "English bulldog" who bit off more than he chew and then startled his adversaries by biting off some more.

Churchill's speeches have to be read, ponder over and than digested for their full effect. Long after all of us have spent our limited time on earth, the shadow of Winston Churchill will continue to loom over England in the form of the printed word.

People not only in England but elsewhere are constantly in need of motivation, inspiration and celebration. In Churchill's speeches, they find all they need and more.

Get to meet the Mind Map Maestro Tony Buzan

Some of you may already know or have heard of Tony Buzan. If you are into mind mapping, you will invariably bump into this guy.

Buzan has written a series of books on how best to make use of your brain and mind. Both of them meaning much the same thing but their definitions may differ, depending on who you are speaking to.

Mind mapping is an art that can be cultivated to work to your advantage. The gist of it simply translates to compartmentalising all bits of information into neat little packages that your mind will store and be recalled in an instance.

It helps if you are studying for a post-graduate degree or if you are a professional who needs to be very versatile mentally.

Few people really know how to make use of their brain. We all have it but for some of us, it is still in pristine condition.

I used to have a standing joke with my close friends and colleagues. Sometimes when I am in the mood, I will tell them that I wish to sell my brain when I die because it is in pristine condition on account of the fact that it is hardly used.

Thank God for someone like Tony Buzan who came along to help those of us who want to use our brains to our maximum advantage but don't know how to.

Many years ago, there was another chap by the name of Edward De Bono. He too had published a series of works on the human mind and the ways and paths through which we can tread, so that the best can be squeezed out of the grey matter.

But some people may find De Bono a bit too high falutin for them. In other words, he may be found to be talking "above their heads". It is no fault of De Bono because he's like that.

Buzan on the other hand has simplified the entire process and has successfully made his books reader-friendly.

I strongly urge all those who want to get the best out of their brains to digest Buzan's books, one by one and internalise all his lessons.

Apart from using common sense, Buzan's tips on mind mapping is the next best thing. My late mum didn't have a high school education, let alone, a university degree but she had more common sense than a lot of heads of state.

Her common sense came from hard knocks from the university of life. There were many things she unconsciously taught me when I was growing up. One of them was not to ignore people like Tony Buzan when he comes along.

We are all not too old to learn. Learning new things is a wonderful pastime. They say you can't teach an old dog tricks. I beg to differ. You can, and you should. Otherwise, all the old dogs would be good for nothing except wait to be put to sleep.

Make up your mind to make use of your mind. It is easy. I have tried it and it is like a walk in the park.