I'm trying to translate this famous quote from Churchill
Never give in–never, never, never, never, in nothing great or small,
large or petty, never give in except to convictions of honour and good
sense. Never yield to force; never yield to the apparently
overwhelming might of the enemy.
Sir Winston Churchill, Speech, 1941, Harrow School
In order to do that I want to gain a better understanding of what he really means, so that I can translate it properly. It's hard because it's very deep, here is the video, I've listened to it like 100 times, it never gets repetitive it's like a poem.
So I have some questions here
1- Is "giving in" the same thing as "giving up?", what's the difference?
When you stop fighting in a war, are you giving in, or giving up?
Is it in this context the same thing as surrendering?
2- What does "Never give in except to convictions of honour and good sense" exactly mean?
Does it mean only give in when your honor is preserved, or for a good cause?
If you wanted to say the same thing with different wording, what would it be?
Best Answer
The difference between give in and give up is subtle. To give up is to forfeit, lose, or acquiesce, like letting a ball fall from your hands. To give in is to yield or submit to pressure, like a paper cup crumpling when you squeeze it. Giving up is more like something that you do, while giving in is more like allowing something to happen to you. In most situations, they’re freely interchangeable.
The whole phrase is saying that you should only yield to pressure when either your sense of honour, or your sense of reason, says that you should. You should not give in—and thus compromise your honour or reason—under pressure from your enemies.