Thanks to Gail Wisan at Florida Atlantic University (gwisan@fau.edu) for contributing this quotation:

I gather, young man, that you wish to be a Member of Parliament. The first lesson that you must learn is, when I call for statistics about the rate of infant mortality, what I want is proof that fewer babies died when I was Prime Minister than when anyone else was Prime Minister. That is a political statistic.
~ Sir Winston Churchill (1874-1965), British Prime Minister, statesman and orator

In like fashion, here are a few more wryly humorous quotations from Churchill:

I am easily satisfied with the very best.

Men stumble over the truth from time to time but most pick themselves up and hurry off as if nothing happened.

A lie gets halfway around the world before the truth has a chance to get its pants on.

Success is the ability to go from failure to failure without losing your enthusiasm.

Eating words has never given me indigestion.

Reader contributions of Parting Thoughts are most welcome. Send them to Marne Einarson (mke3@cornell.edu)