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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

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Paul Johnson
Age: 96
Born: 1928
Born: November 2
Editor
Historian
Journalist
Speechwriter
Writer
Manchester
England
Paul Bede Johnson
Ajar
Opens
Push
Wide
Door
Doors
Open

More quotes by Paul Johnson

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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.
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As the CIA and KGB, like God and Satan, fight Miltonic battles across five continents.
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The word 'meaningful' when used today is nearly always meaningless.
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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.
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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.
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Hell is being trapped in a night-club with the'beautiful people'and forced to live in a'luxury penthouse flat'.
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Democracy has many enemies, and the terrorist is only one of them.
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I was very fond of Princess Diana. She used to have me over to lunch to ask my advice. I'd give her good advice, and she'd say: 'I entirely agree. Paul, you're so right.' Then she'd go and do the opposite.
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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.
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Human beings are infinitely worth studying, especially the peculiarities that often go along with outstanding gifts.
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I like that lady - Sarah Palin. She's great. I like the cut of her jib.
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I've been having an affair, but I still believe in family values.
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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.
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If we want foxes, to observe and delight in, we must have hunting.
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The writer learns to write, in the last resort, only by writing. He must get words onto paper even if he is dissatisfied with them.
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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
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You know you're an Arizona native when you have to look up mass transit in the dictionary.
Paul Johnson
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Scanning the newspapers and absorbing with a mixture of incredulity and indignation the enormities they report, I conclude that what England lacks today is, quite simply, sense.
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There are no inevitabilities in history
Paul Johnson
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It takes less than a decade for today's luxury to become a universal necessity.
Paul Johnson