ENGLISH-PERSONIFIED – by Des Kelly
This extremely interesting article was sent to me, by my good friend Dayal Cooray, whose dad Denis P. Cooray was my immediate boss when I joined the Royal Ceylon Navy in 1953 as a Supply Assistant.
Because both Dayal & myself do love correct English both spoken & written, I could plainly see that, after WW2, Winston Churchill, who was always a busy man, made good use of his “writing-talents” in order to keep his faculties in top-shape, so, as a result, he penned fascinating articles such as this, in addition to writing “books of knowledge”, as I call them. As a matter of fact, I am the proud owner of 3 TOMES of Churchillian education of the English Language, and with due thanks to Dayal, I would like every one of e’Lanka’s members to read & study what “English Personified” is all about.
Desmond Kelly.
(Editor-in-Chief) e’Lanka.
Words on Whisky from Winston Churchill
Sir Winston Churchill was once asked about his position on whisky. Here’s how he answered:
“If you mean whisky, the devil’s brew, the poison scourge, the bloody monster that defiles innocence, dethrones reason, destroys the home, creates misery and poverty, yea, literally takes the bread from the mouths of little children; if you mean that evil drink that topples men and women from the pinnacles of righteous and gracious living into the bottomless pit of degradation, shame, despair, helplessness and hopelessness, then, my friend, I am opposed to it with every fibre of my being.”
“However, if by whisky you mean the oil of conversation, the philosophic wine, the elixir of life, the ale that is consumed when good fellows get together, that puts a song in their hearts and the warm glow of contentment in their eyes; if you mean good cheer, the stimulating sip that puts a little spring in the step of an elderly gentleman on a frosty morning; if you mean that drink that enables man to magnify his joy, and to forget life’s great tragedies and heartbreaks and sorrow; if you mean that drink the sale of which pours into our treasuries untold millions of pounds each year, that provides tender care for our little crippled children, our blind, our deaf, our dumb, our pitifully aged and infirm, to build the finest highways, hospitals, universities, and community colleges in this nation… then my friend, I am absolutely, unequivocally in favour of it!”
“This is my position, and as always, I refuse to compromise on matters of principle.”
