Throughout his life, Winston Churchill was haunted by his early experience of piloting propeller planes. These planes could only maintain speed and height, by flying into the wind. From the planes, he took a metaphor for living. The idea to keep flying against resistance, inspired Churchill's will to succeed and kept him from slowing down. To keep British morale high at a time of such pity and darkness, his speeches were made to mobilise the British language and send it into battle. Churchill particularly liked to refer to other famous battles, poets, and leaders in British history, in order to instill a sense of pride in the British people. For example, in the "We Shall Fight on the Beaches" speech, he quotes Lord Alfred Tennyson's Morte Darthur poem; "Every morn brought forth a noble chance, And every chance brought forth a noble knight." Here Churchill compares the British troops to the legendary Knights of the Round Table; the chivalric order. This raises the morale of the British people by associating the courage of the Army, Navy, and R.A.F to powerful and renowned historical figures. Churchill is calling upon the noble traditions, which have kept Britons going for centuries. Furthermore, he reminds the listener of how much power and success Britain has had, and hence they should feel confident that the war will be won. Moreover, all that the British legends of old will have achieved will be lost if not successful.
Similarly, in his Harrow School speech, Churchill once again quotes a poem highly regarded in British heritage titled "If" by Rudyard Kipling. Throughout this speech, Churchill reinforces that the country must remain optimistic. He quotes the poem saying that we must meet with, "Triumph and Disaster. And treat those two impostors just the same." Here Kipling is saying that we must treat the good events, and bad events in exactly the same way. When Churchill quotes it, he is not trying to dampen Allied victories; he is saying the country must keep their heads held high whatever the circumstances may be, because victory is not certain until the end.
