A friend of mine and I were talking about politics and he told me this quote - “If You Are Not a Liberal at 25, You Have No Heart. If You Are Not a Conservative at 35 You Have No Brain” by Churchill. After looking into it I’ve read that this was likely falsely attributed to him, but it made me wonder; what was a “liberal” in the eyes of someone like Churchill, and how do they compare to the ideas of liberal/conservative of 21st century Americans (which my friend and I are)? As I understand it, liberals/conservatives are vastly different in ideology/definition between the US and UK, so would it be appropriate for an American conservative to repeat that quote when talking about modern liberals in the US, when attributing it to someone like Churchill?
You might be interested in this thread where /u/thoctar and others discuss the history of Liberalism and its American vs European/British contrast.
In the context of Churchill however, the quote takes on a different meaning. Up until 1988, when they merged with the Social Democratic Party to form the Liberal Democrats, the United Kingdom had a leading political party called the Liberal Party. The party supported free trade and laissez-faire economic policy, as well as being in favour of personal liberty, political reform and reducing the power of the church and monarch. Indeed, the party itself was born out of the political struggle surrounding the Great Reform Act in 1832. After 1918, they were gradually replaced by the Labour party as the second major party.
The second major party at this time was the Conservative Party, a socially conservative and reactionary party formed from the Tory Party. When Churchill first entered Parliament they were embroiled in a bitter debate over tariffs and free trade which saw many defections to the Liberals. They were generally seen as the party of the well-off.
Churchill very famously defected from the Conservatives, the other leading party at the time, to the Liberals in 1904. He later un-defected back to the Conservatives in 1924. While this was probably a cynical move to maximise his opportunities for higher office, it probably gives rise to this quote. Churchill became a Liberal at 24 and a Conservative again at 44, so this quote was presumably crafted to reflect this, although there is no record of him ever saying it.