During my life I have often had to eat my own words, and I have found them a wholesome diet.

The line is commonly presented as Churchill’s retort when criticized for contradicting an earlier position or when warned that a policy reversal would force him to "eat his words." In later retellings it appears as a House of Commons or government-room exchange, sometimes involving colleagues such as Walter Monckton.

It’s a self-deprecating defense of changing one’s mind: admitting past error is not humiliating but healthy, and consistency is less important than being right when new facts or arguments emerge.

During my life I have often had to eat my own words and I have found them a wholesome diet.

I have had to eat my words many times, and I may add, I have always found them a wholesome diet.

For 40 years, I have found myself eating my own words, and on the whole I find it a very wholesome diet!

In the course of my life I have often had to eat my words, and I must confess that I have always found it a wholesome diet.