Comments and discussion

In your analysis of Winston Churchill’s “Blood, Toil, Tears, and Sweat”, you should also look out for those statements that are particularly memorable or controversial.

The speech stands out through many cleverly phrased ideas, but one of the most memorable ones is “…I have nothing to offer but blood, toil, tears, and sweat.” (ll. 34-35). 

The phrase was originally derived from a speech by Giuseppe Garibaldi, made in Italy in 1849 to rally volunteers in Rome to conquer Sicily. Churchill was very passionate about this historical figure and even considered writing a book about him at one point. This helps to explain why he chose to use the words of a military general he admired to inspire his audience to accept him as a wartime Prime Minister and to join his war effort. However, this was not the first time Churchill used t...