The famous phrase Blood, toil, tears and sweat was originally used by Theodore Roosevelt in an address to the Naval War College on June 2, 1897, following his appointment as Assistant Secretary of the Navy.

However, the phrase became well known after a speech given by Sir Winston Churchill to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom on 13 May, 1940. Churchill, a keen soldier, was likely to have read works by Theodore Roosevelt, who was a widely published military historian; it is also possible he read the speech after being appointed First Lord of the Admiralty, a position similar to Roosevelt's. It was Churchill's first speech to the House after taking over as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom in the first year of World War II, having replaced Neville Chamberlain on 10 May.

Background

It was the first of three speeches which he gave during the period of the Battle of France. This speech (and the two others, the "We shall fight on the beaches" speech of 4 June and the "This was their finest hour" speech of 18 June) was a great inspiration to the embattled United Kingdom as it entered what was probably the most dangerous period of the entire war.

Excerpts

We are in the preliminary stage of one of the greatest battles in history.

That we are in action at many points — in Norway and in Holland —, that we have to be prepared in the Mediterranean.

That the air battle is continuous, and that many preparations have to be made here at home.

I would say to the House as I said to those who have joined this government: I have nothing to offer but blood, toil, tears and sweat.

We have before us an ordeal of the most grievous kind.

We have before us many, many long months of struggle and of suffering.

You ask, what is our aim?

I can answer in one word: Victory.

Victory at all costs — Victory in spite of all terror — Victory, however long and hard the road may be, for without victory there is no survival.

(Text transcription as originally read by Churchill)

References

See also

• Never was so much owed by so many to so few
• We shall fight on the beaches

External links

• The Churchill Centre: Blood, Toil, Tears and Sweat, with a short introduction
• Transcription and MP3 recording

Further reading

• John Lukacs, Five Days in London: May 1940 (Yale University, New Haven, 2001) is a good look at the political situation in the British government when Churchill made this speech