"You have enemies? Good. That means you've stood up for something sometime in your life"
About this Quote
The intent is moral triage. In moments when consensus becomes a fetish, Churchill argues that conflict is often the price of conviction. “Stood up for something” casts politics not as branding or management but as posture: a physical act of refusal. “Sometime in your life” lands the jab. It implies that a life without enemies is less peaceful than empty, a record of constant accommodation. The subtext flatters the listener into courage while also warning against the narcotic of being liked.
Context matters because Churchill’s public persona was forged in high-stakes opposition: party switches, bitter parliamentary fights, and, most famously, the lonely years warning about Hitler while many preferred appeasement. In that climate, enemies weren’t incidental; they were the visible consequence of taking positions that disrupted comfortable narratives. The line also functions as preemptive armor. If you’re being attacked, it offers a way to interpret the noise as confirmation rather than deterrent.
There’s a hard-edged ethic underneath: virtue isn’t measured by harmony but by the willingness to incur costs. It’s Churchillian consolation with teeth.
Quote Details
| Topic | Leadership |
|---|---|
| Source | Later attribution: The Good Book (Jawara D. King, 2017) modern compilation
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| Featured | This quote was our Quote of the Day on October 8, 2025 |
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Citation Formats
APA Style (7th ed.)
Churchill, Winston. (2026, February 16). You have enemies? Good. That means you've stood up for something sometime in your life. FixQuotes. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/you-have-enemies-good-that-means-youve-stood-up-27834/
Chicago Style
Churchill, Winston. "You have enemies? Good. That means you've stood up for something sometime in your life." FixQuotes. February 16, 2026. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/you-have-enemies-good-that-means-youve-stood-up-27834/.
MLA Style (9th ed.)
"You have enemies? Good. That means you've stood up for something sometime in your life." FixQuotes, 16 Feb. 2026, https://fixquotes.com/quotes/you-have-enemies-good-that-means-youve-stood-up-27834/. Accessed 17 Feb. 2026.







