Criticism may not be agreeable, but it is necessary. It fulfils the same function as pain in the human body; it calls attention to the development of an unhealthy state of things. If it is heeded in time, danger may be averted; if it is suppressed, a fatal distemper may develop."

[New Statesman interview, 7 January 1939]

Winston S. Churchill

Winston S. Churchill

Related Quotes

Democracy is the worst form of government, except for all the others.

— Winston S. Churchill

criticismdemocracyhumour

When we judge or criticize another person, it says nothing about that person; it merely says something about our own need to be critical.

— Winston Churchill

You have enemies? Good. That means you've stood up for something, sometime in your life.

— Winston S. Churchill

attributed-no-sourceconvictionscriticism

I do not resent criticism, even when, for the sake of emphasis, it parts for the time with reality.

— Winston Churchill

CriticismEmphasisReality

I shall always be glad to have seen it-for the same reason Papa gave for being glad to have seen Lisbon-namely, "that it will be unnecessary ever to see it again."

— Winston Churchill

CriticismGladPlace