Indeed it is the protean ability of Western civilization to be self-critical and self-correcting - not only in producing wealth but over the whole range of human activities - that constitutes its most decisive superiority over any of its rivals. — Paul Johnson Copy Share Image
Indeed, the study of universities and the great men and women who have attended them leads me to think that the best of these schools are characterized not so much by what they teach and how they teach it but… — Paul Johnson Copy Share Image
“Partly by accident, partly by instinct, partly by deliberate contrivance, he was the first intellectual systematically to exploit the guilt of the privileged. And… — Paul Johnson Copy Share
“The Salem [witch] trials…can be seen as an example of the propensity of the American people to be convulsed by spasms of self-righteous rage… — Paul Johnson Copy Share
“Much of Sartre’s time in the 1960s was spent travelling in China and the Third World, a term invented by the geographer Alfred Sauvy… — Paul Johnson Copy Share
“He [Augustine] admitted: 'I am the sort of man who writes because he has made progress, and who makes progress by writing.' ” — Paul Johnson Copy Share
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… — Paul Johnson Copy Share
“Marx wrote about finance and industry all his life but he only knew two people connected with financial and industrial processes. One was his… — Paul Johnson Copy Share
“When we are dealing with concepts like freedom and equality, it is essential to use words accurately and in good faith. So the eighth… — Paul Johnson Copy Share
Margaret Thatcher had more impact on the world than any woman ruler since Catherine the Great of Russia. Not only did she turn around… — Paul Johnson Copy Share
Wisdom lies not in possessing knowledge - which quickly becomes outdated - but in perpetually seeking it. — Paul Johnson Copy Share
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… — Paul Johnson Copy Share
“As Khrushchev put it, “He prodded the capitalist world with the tip of his bayonet.” He himself put it, “If I see a door… — Paul Johnson Copy Share
“We must never forget that the settlement of what is now the United States was only part of a larger enterprise. And this was… — Paul Johnson Copy Share
Where the quest for knowledge is relatively, and now almost absolutely, unrestrained, the public benefit will be great, especially where the certainty of the… — Paul Johnson Copy Share
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… — Paul Johnson Copy Share
