No Evidence of Winston Churchill Viral Quote

Rebecca Bowen

Politics

25th September 2021

No Evidence of Winston Churchill Viral Quote

The alleged quote is, "A nation that forgets its past has no future," (Getty).

The Claim

Winston Churchill said, “A nation that forgets its past has no future.”

News posted on

Emerging story

First appearing in June 2020, social media users continue to share a quote from deceased United Kingdom Prime Minister Winston Churchill. The quote states, “A nation that forgets its past has no future.” The image shared by users goes on to discuss guilt around actions taken by a group’s ancestor, saying, “you cannot be guilty of actions that took place before you were born.”

A supporting image within the article body

Misbar’s Analysis

Misbar’s analysis found no credible source to attribute this quote to Churchill. Though you find this quote on several sites specializing in aggregating quotes, no source is ever cited. One website, QuoteNova, even states that they have no proof the quote was from Churchill and adds the disclaimer that they do not recommend citing the quote “as fact.”

Writer and historian Richard M. Langworth, who has written several books on things Churchill did and didn’t actually say, talks about this quote in particular in a blog entry. Decrying these websites' use of mostly fake quotes, Langworth explains that this statement may have been derived from another Churchill quote: “If we open a quarrel between the past and the present we shall find that we have lost the future.”

Though there is no evidence Churchill said this line, there are verified Churchill quotes that show his particular attitude. As the International Churchill Society documents, Churchill did say, “If Hitler invaded Hell I would make at least a favorable reference to the Devil in the House of Commons.”