Paul Johnson quotes

Paul Johnson was a British historian, journalist, and author renowned for his wide-ranging works on history and culture. His prolific writing covered topics from ancient civilizations to modern political figures. He contributed significantly to public debate with accessible and thought-provoking books and articles. Here are 30 of his quotes:

This book is dedicated to the people of America--strong, outspoken, intense in their convictions, sometimes wrong-headed but always generous and brave, with a passion for justice no nation has ever matched.

Paul Johnson

Men are excessively ruthless and cruel not as a rule out of malice but from outraged righteousness. How much more is this true of legally constituted states, invested with all this seeming moral authority of parliaments and congresses and courts of justice! The destructive capacity of an individual, however vicious, is small; of the state, however well-intentioned, almost limitless. Expand the state and the destructive capacity necessarily expands too. Collective righteousness is far more ungovernable than any individual pursuit of revenge. That was a point well understood by Woodrow Wilson, who warned: 'Once lead this people into war and they'll forget there ever was such a thing as tolerance.

Paul Johnson

It was part of Rousseau's vanity that he believed himself incapable of base emotions. ‘I feel too superior to hate.' ‘I love myself too much to hate anybody.

Paul Johnson

Marxism, Freudianism, global warming. These are proof - of which history offers so many examples - that people can be suckers on a grand scale. To their fanatical followers they are a substitute for religion. Global warming, in particular, is a creed, a faith, a dogma that has little to do with science.

Paul Johnson

To many, Heathrow in August is a paradigm of Hell.

Paul Johnson

Global warming, like Marxism, is a political theory of actions, demanding compliance with its rules.

Paul Johnson

Germany's Angela Merkel exudes an atmosphere of elderly exhaustion and pooped-out pessimism. Britain's David Cameron, though by nature exuberant, feels he has to look and sound glum. And France's leader, Francois Hollande, seems determined to drive every successful businessman out of the country.

Paul Johnson

The planet Earth, though not threatened with destruction by man-made global warming, is by no means indestructible. There are many unpredictable events within our solar system, and still more outside it, that could make Earth uninhabitable by humans.

Paul Johnson

The word 'meaningful' when used today is nearly always meaningless.

Paul Johnson

A capitalist economy hums when leading businessmen are bubbling with animal spirits and are prepared to sink their money into risky ventures.

Paul Johnson

As a child I found railroad stations exciting, mysterious, and even beautiful, as indeed they often were.

Paul Johnson

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

The most evil person I ever met was a toss-up between Pablo Picasso and the publisher-crook Robert Maxwell.

Paul Johnson

I like that lady - Sarah Palin. She's great. I like the cut of her jib.

Paul Johnson

In the long term, it is desirable that the human race, faced with the prospect of extinction on Earth, should prepare an escape route for itself to another inhabitable planet.

Paul Johnson

Human beings are infinitely worth studying, especially the peculiarities that often go along with outstanding gifts.

Paul Johnson

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

Next to courage, willpower is the most important thing in politics.

Paul Johnson

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

Courage is the essential element in any great public man or woman.

Paul Johnson

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

Long periods of recession, which tend to be self-perpetuating, are usually ended by war, or by preparations for it.

Paul Johnson