THINKER'S ALMANAC - June 4

Subject: Cognitive Fluency - Churchill’s “We Shall Fight” Speech

Event:  Winston Churchill’s address to the House of Commons, 1940

Repetition is based on body rhythms, so we identify with the heartbeat, or with walking, or with breathing. -Karlheinz Stockhausen

On this date in 1940, Prime Minister Winston Churchill addressed the House of Commons and the British people.  France had fallen to Nazi Germany, but all was not lost: over 300,000 allied soldiers had been successfully evacuated from Dunkirk.  Churchill’s purpose in this speech was to buoy the spirits of the British people. Europe had fallen, but the British Empire would not give up and would not go down without a fight.

  WINSTON CHURCHILL 

- Image by Simon Goodall from Pixabay

In the final paragraph, or preoration, of his speech, Churchill unleashed one of history’s most dramatic finishes:

We shall fight on the seas and oceans,

 we shall fight with growing confidence and growing strength in the air,

 we shall defend our island, whatever the cost may be.

We shall fight on the beaches,

 we shall fight on the landing grounds,

 we shall fight in the fields and in the streets,

 we shall fight in the hills;

 we shall never surrender . . . . (1)

There’s a fine line between repetition and redundancy, but as demonstrated by Churchill, when employed at the right time and at the right place, repetition can create the kind of dramatic emphasis that rolls and resonates like ocean waves, repeatedly crashing on the rocky shore.  Churchill, a master of rhetoric, knew what he was doing. He knew just when and just where to employ this echo effect for maximum impact.

Another element of Churchill’s mastery is his use of succinct, simple language.  As he explains in his “Scaffolding of Rhetoric,” published when he was 23 years old:

The shorter words of a language are usually the more ancient. Their meaning is more ingrained in the national character and they appeal with greater force to simple understandings than words recently introduced from the Latin and the Greek. All the speeches of great English rhetoricians–except when addressing highly cultured audiences–display a uniform preference for short, homely words of common usage–so long as such words can fully express their thoughts and feelings… (2)

In Churchill’s case we would certainly recognize how he is mobilizing language for benevolent purposes; however, we should also realize that the same principles may be used for malevolent purposes.  For example, Churchill’s rival in the war, Adolf Hitler, knew the power of using clear language and repetition for spreading misinformation and propaganda.  In Mein Kampf he wrote, “The most brilliant propagandist technique will yield no success unless one fundamental principle is borne in mind constantly and with unflagging attention.  It must confine itself to a few points and repeat them over and over” (3).

The brilliance of Churchill’s rhetoric is supported by a modern concept from neuroscience called cognitive fluency, which means that the human brain not only prefers things that are easy to think about, it also sees things that are easy to think about as more true than things that are hard to think about.  For example, companies with easy-to-pronounce names are more successful than companies that have hard to pronounce names.  The word “fluency” simply means flow. Information and words that flow smoothly are easier to process and are more likely to stick with your reader.  Similarly, as Churchill’s speech demonstrates, simple words and words that are repeated, are easier to process and to remember.

Recall, Retrieve, Recite, Ruminate, Reflect, Reason:  What is cognitive fluency, and how does it relate to Churchill’s memorable speech?

Challenge - You Can Say That Again: Some of the best-known sayings, expressions, titles, and aphorisms in the English language use repetition for effect:

No pain, no gain

First come, first served

United we stand, divided we fall

Put up or shut up

Never Say Never Again

What are some examples of great quotations that repeat at least one significant word?  What would you say is the best thing ever said with repetition? Read the quotations below as examples; then, research a quotation that you think is particularly well stated.  In addition to presenting the quotation and the name of the speaker, explain why you like the quotation based on both what it says and how it says it.

Some are born great, some achieve greatness, and some have greatness thrust upon them. -William Shakespeare

There are two great days in a person’s life – the day we are born and the day we discover why. -William Barclay

The cure for boredom is curiosity. There is no cure for curiosity. -Ellen Parr

When a person can no longer laugh at himself, it is time for others to laugh at him. -Thomas Szasz

Darkness cannot drive out darkness: only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate: only love can do that. –Martin Luther King Jr.

There are only two ways to live your life. One is as though nothing is a miracle. The other is as though everything is a miracle. –Albert Einstein

Sources:

1-International Churchill Society.  “We Shall Fight on the Beaches.”

2-Churchill, Winston.  “The Scaffolding of Rhetoric.”  https://winstonchurchill.org/publications/finest-hour/finest-hour-094/the-scaffolding-of-rhetoric-2/

3-Robson, David.  The Intelligence Trap:  Why Smart People Make Dumb Mistakes.  New York:  W.W. Norton, 2019: 141-145.