The most intimidating world leader was Lyndon Johnson, who became U.S. President when John Kennedy was assassinated. He exulted in this power and liked to inspire fear. Paul Johnson More Quotes by Paul Johnson More Quotes From Paul Johnson Bismarck had cunningly taught the parties not to aim at national appeal but to represent interests. They remained class or sectional pressure-groups under the Republic. This was fatal, for it made the party system, and with it democratic parliamentarianism, seem a divisive rather than a unifying factor. Worse: it meant the parties never produced a leader who appealed beyond the narrow limits of his own following. Paul Johnson pressure-groupspartyclass Next to courage, willpower is the most important thing in politics. Paul Johnson willpowernextimportant If the decline of Christianity created the modern political zealot - and his crimes - so the evaporation of religious faith among the educated left a vacuum in the minds of Western intellectuals easily filled by secular superstition. There is no other explanation for the credulity with which scientists, accustomed to evaluating evidence, and writers, whose whole function was to study and criticize society, accepted the crudest Stalinist propaganda at its face value. They needed to believe; they wanted to be duped. Paul Johnson politicalreligiousbelieve As the CIA and KGB, like God and Satan, fight Miltonic battles across five continents. Paul Johnson kgbfightingwar I don't write huge books any more. I used to write 1,000 printed pages, but now I write short books. I did one on Napoleon, 50,000 words - enjoyed doing that. He was a baddie. I did one on Churchill, which was a bestseller in New York, I'm glad to say. 50,000 words. He was a goodie. Paul Johnson new-yorkwritingbook Democracy has many enemies, and the terrorist is only one of them. Paul Johnson democracies-havedemocracyenemy I very much wanted to be editor of the 'New Statesman!' But I never wanted to be prime minister, except maybe as a little boy. Paul Johnson editorslittlesboys Long periods of recession, which tend to be self-perpetuating, are usually ended by war, or by preparations for it. Paul Johnson selfwarlong A capitalist economy hums when leading businessmen are bubbling with animal spirits and are prepared to sink their money into risky ventures. Paul Johnson capitalist-economyventureanimal At some time in their careers, most good historians itch to write a history of the world, endeavor to discover what makes humanity the most destructive and creative of species. Paul Johnson careerscreativewriting Courage is the essential element in any great public man or woman. Paul Johnson elementsessentialsmen If I see a door ajar, I push on it to see how far it will open, and if it opens wide I go through it. Paul Johnson wideifsdoors Conservation of energy. Never stand up when you can sit down, and never sit down when you can lie down. Paul Johnson down-andenergylying I like that lady - Sarah Palin. She's great. I like the cut of her jib. Paul Johnson palincutting In the past, the U.S. has shown its capacity to reinvent its gifts for leadership. During the 1970s, in the aftermath of the Nixon abdication and the Ford and Carter presidencies, the whole nation peered into the abyss, was horrified by what it saw and elected Ronald Reagan as president, which began a national resurgence. Paul Johnson aftermathpresidentpast If you depart from moral absolutes, you go into a bottomless pit. Communism and Naziism were catastrophic evils which both derived from moral relativism. Their differences were minor compared to their similarities. Paul Johnson He's frankly got no idea of what's going to be happening to the economy because we don't know what kind of Brexit we are going to get. Paul Johnson world The answer is: yes. Paul Johnson us-news In all its myriad manifestations, the language of anti-Semitism through the ages is a dictionary of non-sequiturs and antonyms, a thesaurus of illogic and inconsistency. Paul Johnson agesanti-semitismthroughlanguage When people talk about political correctness, the only element of any value is good manners. Paul Johnson valuegoodpoliticalpeople
