"My rule of life prescribed as an absolutely sacred rite smoking cigars and also the drinking of alcohol before, after and if need be during all meals and in the intervals between them"
About this Quote
The line’s comic engine is escalation. "Before, after and if need be during" meals, then "in the intervals between them" pushes past convivial drinking into near-parodic omnipresence. The overstatement is a shield: by exaggerating his own habits, he owns them, making moralists and rivals look humorless by comparison. It’s a rhetorical trick Churchill used often: turn a potential liability into a story only he can tell well.
Context matters. This is the Churchill brand that coexisted with wartime gravity - bulldog defiance paired with a cultivated aura of robust appetites. In an era when leaders were expected to project stoic restraint, he projects stamina. The subtext is not "I like to drink"; it’s "I can carry this and still carry the nation". Even the rhythm mimics a campaign cadence, a marching list that implies momentum. It sells a myth: the leader as engine, fueled by vice, run on nerve, immune to fatigue.
Quote Details
| Topic | Witty One-Liners |
|---|---|
| Source | Verified source: The Second World War, Vol. VI: Triumph and Tragedy (Winston Churchill, 1953)
Evidence: A number of social problems arose. I had been told that neither smoking nor alcoholic beverages were allowed in the Royal Presence. As I was the host at luncheon I raised the matter at once, and said to the interpreter that if it was the religion of His Majesty to deprive himself of smoking and alcohol I must point out that my rule of life prescribed as an absolutely sacred rite smoking cigars and also the drinking of alcohol before, after and, if need be, during all meals and in the intervals between them. The King graciously accepted the position. His own cup-bearer from Mecca offered me a glass of water from its sacred well, the most delicious I had ever tasted. (Chapter 23 ("Yalta: Finale"), pp. 348–349). This wording appears as Churchill’s own narrative (primary source) in his memoir/history. The passage describes his luncheon with King Ibn Saud at the Fayoum oasis, Egypt, dated February 17, 1945. Although many quote-collections reproduce only the middle sentence, the fuller paragraph above is the primary-source context. The House of Commons debate transcript (April 16, 2024) reproduces the quote, but it is not the first publication; it is a modern reuse. Other candidates (1) Triumph and Tragedy of Winston S. Churchill. Illustrated (Winston S. Churchill, 2025) compilation98.8% ... my rule of life prescribed as an absolutely sacred rite smoking cigars and also the drinking of alcohol before, a... |
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Citation Formats
APA Style (7th ed.)
Churchill, Winston. (2026, February 27). My rule of life prescribed as an absolutely sacred rite smoking cigars and also the drinking of alcohol before, after and if need be during all meals and in the intervals between them. FixQuotes. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/my-rule-of-life-prescribed-as-an-absolutely-27792/
Chicago Style
Churchill, Winston. "My rule of life prescribed as an absolutely sacred rite smoking cigars and also the drinking of alcohol before, after and if need be during all meals and in the intervals between them." FixQuotes. February 27, 2026. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/my-rule-of-life-prescribed-as-an-absolutely-27792/.
MLA Style (9th ed.)
"My rule of life prescribed as an absolutely sacred rite smoking cigars and also the drinking of alcohol before, after and if need be during all meals and in the intervals between them." FixQuotes, 27 Feb. 2026, https://fixquotes.com/quotes/my-rule-of-life-prescribed-as-an-absolutely-27792/. Accessed 28 Mar. 2026.
