--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: It hasn't taken them long, they began by…" description: "\"It hasn't taken them long, they began by telling us they would have a positive and patriotic case and they're back to project fear within minutes. Ther..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/82f/boris-johnson-2701_cases_it-hasn-t-taken-them-long-they-began-by_2617474.jpg" --- # It hasn't taken them long, they began by telling us they… ![“It hasn't taken them long, they began by telling us they would have a positive and patriotic case and they're back to project fear within minutes. There they go again they have nothing positive to say.” quote by Boris Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/82f/boris-johnson-2701_cases_it-hasn-t-taken-them-long-they-began-by_2617474.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/82f/boris-johnson-2701_cases_it-hasn-t-taken-them-long-they-began-by_2617474.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/82f/boris-johnson-2701_cases_it-hasn-t-taken-them-long-they-began-by_2617474.jpg) > “It hasn't taken them long, they began by telling us they would have a positive and patriotic case and they're back to project fear within minutes. There they go again they have nothing positive to say.” [Boris Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/boris-johnson/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Leaders often claim positivity but quickly revert to fear‑mongering, undermining trust. **In simple terms:** Positive claims turn into fear tactics. Key Takeaway Watch for fear tactics after hopeful promises. Themes politics trust communication Mood skeptical critical Type political observational When to use this quote - campaign speeches - media interviews - political debates Key Concepts propaganda psychology public rhetoric Questions to Reflect On - How do you discern genuine positivity from fear tactics? - What impact does fear have on public trust? A Different Perspective Fearful messaging can erode credibility. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Fear](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fear/) [Patriotic](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/patriotic/) ## Related quotes > [“That was Sunday, June 5th, 2016—two years, ten months, and seventeen days ago. The next morning, Monday, June 6th, 2016, she began telling me…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ray-smith/that-was-sunday-june-5th-2016-two-years-ten-months-and-seventeen-days/) [Ray Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ray-smith/) > [We should not listen to those who continue to repeat the disproved doom-mongering of 'Project Fear.'](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/priti-patel/we-should-not-listen-to-those-who-continue-to-repeat-the-disproved/) [Priti Patel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/priti-patel/) > [I began by telling the president that there was a cancer growing on the presidency and that if the cancer was not removed the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-dean/i-began-by-telling-the-president-that-there-was-a-cancer-growing-on/) [John Dean](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-dean/) > [Every time I do something or release something or announce a new project, there's always that fear that it won't go well.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/grace-vanderwaal/every-time-i-do-something-or-release-something-or-announce-a-new/) [Grace VanderWaal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/grace-vanderwaal/) > [Since it is impossible for the people spontaneously and universally, to move in concert towards their object; and it is therefore essential, that such…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-madison/since-it-is-impossible-for-the-people-spontaneously-and-universally/) [James Madison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-madison/) > [In my grandfather's day, there was a different perspective on war and men that went into war; it was such a patriotic act to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ashton-holmes/in-my-grandfather-s-day-there-was-a-different-perspective-on-war-and/) Ashton Holmes > [Sometimes I wonder if I'm patriotic enough. Yes, I want to kill people, but on both sides.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jack-handey/sometimes-i-wonder-if-i-m-patriotic-enough-yes-i-want-to-kill-people/) [Jack Handey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jack-handey/) > [What we need in South Africa is for egos to be suppressed in favour of peace. We need to create a new breed of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chris-hani/what-we-need-in-south-africa-is-for-egos-to-be-suppressed-in-favour/) [Chris Hani](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chris-hani/) > [I am not one who - who flamboyantly believes in throwing a lot of words around.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-h-w-bush/i-am-not-one-who-who-flamboyantly-believes-in-throwing-a-lot-of-words/) [George H. W. Bush](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-h-w-bush/) > [Love your country. Your country is the land where your parents sleep, where is spoken that language in which the chosen of your heart,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/giuseppe-mazzini/love-your-country-your-country-is-the-land-where-your-parents-sleep/) [Giuseppe Mazzini](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/giuseppe-mazzini/) > [So Americans understand the costs of war. Yet as a country, we will never tolerate our security being threatened, nor stand idly by when…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barack-obama/so-americans-understand-the-costs-of-war-yet-as-a-country-we-will/) [Barack Obama](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barack-obama/) > [Everything that is really great and inspiring is created by the individual who can labor in freedom.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/albert-einstein/everything-that-is-really-great-and-inspiring-is-created-by-the/) [Albert Einstein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/albert-einstein/) > [Somebody said that part of my reaction to British cinema is actually, paradoxically, a patriotic one. I'm so disappointed that we're not better.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kevin-brownlow/somebody-said-that-part-of-my-reaction-to-british-cinema-is-actually/) [Kevin Brownlow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kevin-brownlow/) > [There is no patriotic art and no patriotic science.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/there-is-no-patriotic-art-and-no-patriotic-science/) [Johann Wolfgang von Goethe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/) > [Certainly these are not easy times. But history does not contain very many easy times. Years from now, we will look back at this…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laura-ingraham/certainly-these-are-not-easy-times-but-history-does-not-contain-very/) [Laura Ingraham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laura-ingraham/) ## More by Boris Johnson > [It's not reasonable for companies that have chief executives and board members who are paid very considerable sums to subsidise low pay through in-work…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/boris-johnson/it-s-not-reasonable-for-companies-that-have-chief-executives-and/) [Boris Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/boris-johnson/) > [The difference between Hitler's speeches and Churchill's speeches was that Hitler made you think he could do anything; Churchill made you think you could…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/boris-johnson/the-difference-between-hitler-s-speeches-and-churchill-s-speeches-was/) [Boris Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/boris-johnson/) > [One thing you have got to do politically is to identify the ties that bind society together and try to strengthen them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/boris-johnson/one-thing-you-have-got-to-do-politically-is-to-identify-the-ties-that/) [Boris Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/boris-johnson/) > [If we get outside the EU, if we leave the EU system, we will be relieved of a huge amount of unnecessary regulation that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/boris-johnson/if-we-get-outside-the-eu-if-we-leave-the-eu-system-we-will-be/) [Boris Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/boris-johnson/) > [I'm afraid Sadiq Khan is completely wrong. The European Court of Justice is the supreme legal authority in our country.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/boris-johnson/i-m-afraid-sadiq-khan-is-completely-wrong-the-european-court-of/) [Boris Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/boris-johnson/) > [I would ban sweets from school - but this pressure to bring in healthy food is too much](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/boris-johnson/i-would-ban-sweets-from-school-but-this-pressure-to-bring-in-healthy/) [Boris Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/boris-johnson/) > [As a Scot Gordon Brown will find it hard to convince people in England he should be prime minister](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/boris-johnson/as-a-scot-gordon-brown-will-find-it-hard-to-convince-people-in/) [Boris Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/boris-johnson/) > [He is the resounding human rebuttal to all Marxist historians who think history is the story of vast and impersonal economic forces. The point…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/boris-johnson/he-is-the-resounding-human-rebuttal-to-all-marxist-historians-who/) [Boris Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/boris-johnson/) > [I believe in immigration. But I feel people think it would be better if there was an Australian-style points based system so we could…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/boris-johnson/i-believe-in-immigration-but-i-feel-people-think-it-would-be-better/) [Boris Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/boris-johnson/) > [The next Tory leader would have to unify his party and ensure that Britain stood tall in the world.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/boris-johnson/the-next-tory-leader-would-have-to-unify-his-party-and-ensure-that/) [Boris Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/boris-johnson/) > [This is not a time to quail, it is not a crisis, nor should we see it as an excuse for wobbling or self-doubt.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/boris-johnson/this-is-not-a-time-to-quail-it-is-not-a-crisis-nor-should-we-see-it/) [Boris Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/boris-johnson/) > [Churchill decides from very early on that he will create a political position that is somehow above left and right, embodying the best points…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/boris-johnson/churchill-decides-from-very-early-on-that-he-will-create-a-political/) [Boris Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/boris-johnson/) > [It is just flipping unbelievable. He is a mixture of Harry Houdini and a greased piglet. He is barely human in his elusiveness. Nailing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/boris-johnson/it-is-just-flipping-unbelievable-he-is-a-mixture-of-harry-houdini-and/) [Boris Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/boris-johnson/) > [“My hero is the mayor in Jaws . He's a fantastic guy, and he keeps the beaches open, if you remember, even after it's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/boris-johnson/my-hero-is-the-mayor-in-jaws-he-s-a-fantastic-guy-and-he-keeps-the/) [Boris Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/boris-johnson/) > [Hitler showed the evil that could be done by the art of rhetoric. Churchill showed how it could help to save humanity.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/boris-johnson/hitler-showed-the-evil-that-could-be-done-by-the-art-of-rhetoric/) [Boris Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/boris-johnson/) [Explore all 153 Boris Johnson quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/boris-johnson/) ## More Cases quotes > [The time that one gains cannot be accumulated in a storehouse; it is contradictory to want to save up existence, which, the fact is,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/simone-de-beauvoir/the-time-that-one-gains-cannot-be-accumulated-in-a-storehouse-it-is/) [Simone de Beauvoir](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/simone-de-beauvoir/) > [It can sometimes make people fold into themselves and kind of run away, but I think in this case these characters are being forced…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emily-deschanel/it-can-sometimes-make-people-fold-into-themselves-and-kind-of-run/) [Emily Deschanel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emily-deschanel/) > [I'd always have grease in at least two places, in case the umpires would ask me to wipe one off. I never wanted to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gaylord-perry/i-d-always-have-grease-in-at-least-two-places-in-case-the-umpires/) [Gaylord Perry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gaylord-perry/) > [Islam never differentiates between men and women as regards political rights and puts them on an equal footing. However, even if a woman is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yusuf-al-qaradawi/islam-never-differentiates-between-men-and-women-as-regards-political/) [Yusuf al-Qaradawi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yusuf-al-qaradawi/) > [You gonna take the case?" It's not a case. It's a missing person. Sort of." You're gonna have a devil of a time finding…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/janet-evanovich/you-gonna-take-the-case-it-s-not-a-case-it-s-a-missing-person-sort-of/) [Janet Evanovich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/janet-evanovich/) > [I think we've all had enough of Coltrane saxophonists. There's a case of someone ruining a generation of saxophonists, as Louis Armstrong may have…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-bley/i-think-we-ve-all-had-enough-of-coltrane-saxophonists-there-s-a-case/) [Paul Bley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-bley/) > [Every wife ought to answer for her man. If the husband be engaged in a seditious club, or drinks mysterious healths, or be frugal…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-addison/every-wife-ought-to-answer-for-her-man-if-the-husband-be-engaged-in-a/) [Joseph Addison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-addison/) > [The world around us is an increasingly hostile and sinful place. Occasionally that splashes onto us, and perhaps, in the case of a few…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeffrey-r-holland/the-world-around-us-is-an-increasingly-hostile-and-sinful-place/) [Jeffrey R. 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Underpinning them was the belief that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/irvine-welsh/he-emphasised-basic-truths-you-are-not-dying-yet-you-have-to-live/) [Irvine Welsh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/irvine-welsh/) > [Athletes at all ages are bigger and stronger than ever before. And they are being encouraged - sometimes even incentivized, as we recently learned…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/naveen-jain/athletes-at-all-ages-are-bigger-and-stronger-than-ever-before-and/) [Naveen Jain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/naveen-jain/) > [Each Act of Parliament intended to address harassment and discrimination has faced objections on the basis of 'you'll never be able to prove...' and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tim-field/each-act-of-parliament-intended-to-address-harassment-and/) [Tim Field](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tim-field/) > [The Cheney team had, for example, technological supremacy over the National Security Council staff. 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