The word 'meaningful' when used today is nearly always meaningless. Paul Johnson More Quotes by Paul Johnson More Quotes From Paul Johnson Nothing appeals to intellectuals more than the feeling that they represent 'the people'. Nothing, as a rule, is further from the truth Paul Johnson appealsfeelingspeople The study of history is a powerful antidote to contemporary arrogance. It is humbling to discover how many of our glib assumptions, which seem to us novel and plausible, have been tested before, not once but many times and in innumerable guises; and discovered to be, at great human cost, wholly false. Paul Johnson earth-dayarrogancepowerful The Second World War took place not so much because no one won the First, but because the Versailles Treaty did not acknowledge this truth. Paul Johnson versailleswarworld If you depart from moral absolutes, you go into a bottomless pit. Communism and Nazism were catastrophic evils which both derived from moral relativism. Their differences were minor compared to their similarities. Paul Johnson pitsdifferencesevil A deliberate plan is not always necessary for the highest art; it emerges. Paul Johnson intellectplanningart The urge to distribute wealth equally, and still more the belief that it can be brought about by political action, is the most dangerous of all popular emotions. It is the legitimation of envy, of all the deadly sins the one which a stable society based on consensus should fear the most. The monster state is a source of many evils; but it is, above all, an engine of envy. Paul Johnson envyevilfear His (Lenin's)humanitarianism was a very abstract passion. It embraced humanity in general but he seems to have had little love for, or even interest in, humanity in particular. He saw the people with whom he dealt, his comrades, not as individuals but as receptacles for his ideas. On that basis, and no other, they were judged. He judged man not by their moral qualities but by their views, or rather the degree to which they accepted his. Paul Johnson passionviewsmen My grandfather used to say, "Learn to like art, music and literature deeply and passionately. They will be your friends when things are bad". It is true: at this time of year, when days are short and dark, and one hardly dares to open the newspapers, I turn, not vainly either, to the great creators of the past for distraction, solace and help. Paul Johnson darklifeart ...the century's most radical vice... the notion that human beings can be shoveled around like concrete. Paul Johnson centurypoliticalvices The most socially subversive institution of our time is the one-parent family. Paul Johnson institutionsfamilyparent Global warming, like Marxism, is a political theory of actions, demanding compliance with its rules. Paul Johnson global-warmingpoliticalaction Euphemism is a human device to conceal the horrors of reality. Paul Johnson deviceshorrorreality If anti-Semitism is a variety of racism, it is a most peculiar variety, with many unique characteristics. In my view as a historian, it is so peculiar that it deserves to be placed in a quite different category. I would call it an intellectual disease, a disease of the mind, extremely infectious and massively destructive. Paul Johnson uniqueracismviews There are no inevitabilities in history Paul Johnson inevitabilityinspirational Wisdom lies not in possessing knowledge Paul Johnson outdatedseekinglying Hell is being trapped in a night-club with the'beautiful people'and forced to live in a'luxury penthouse flat'. Paul Johnson luxurybeautifulnight The most evil person I ever met was a toss-up between Pablo Picasso and the publisher-crook Robert Maxwell. Paul Johnson tosscrooksevil In the last generation, with public Christianity in headlong retreat, we have caught our first, distant view of a de-Christianized world , and it is not encouraging. Paul Johnson religiouschristianviews A Stalin functionary admitted, Innocent people were arrested: naturally - otherwise no one would be frightened. If people were arrested only for specific misdemeanours, all the others would feel safe and so become ripe for treason. Paul Johnson would-befearpeople Every good historian is almost by definition a revisionist. He looks at the accepted view of a particular historic episode or period with a very critical eye. Paul Johnson eyeviewshistory
