--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Democracy has many enemies, and the…" description: "\"Democracy has many enemies, and the terrorist is only one of them.\" — Paul Johnson" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/535/paul-johnson-4585_democracies-have_democracy-has-many-enemies-and-the-terro_202839.png" --- # Democracy has many enemies, and the terrorist is only one… ![“Democracy has many enemies, and the terrorist is only one of them.” quote by Paul Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/535/paul-johnson-4585_democracies-have_democracy-has-many-enemies-and-the-terro_202839.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/535/paul-johnson-4585_democracies-have_democracy-has-many-enemies-and-the-terro_202839.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/535/paul-johnson-4585_democracies-have_democracy-has-many-enemies-and-the-terro_202839.png) > “Democracy has many enemies, and the terrorist is only one of them.” [Paul Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-johnson/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Democracy faces many threats; terrorism is just one of them. **In simple terms:** Democracy has multiple enemies. Key Takeaway Guard against all threats to democracy. Themes politics security civil liberties Mood analytical concerned Type political educational When to use this quote - election security - media literacy - civic education Key Concepts democratic theory terrorism studies Questions to Reflect On - What hidden threats endanger democracy? - How can citizens stay vigilant? A Different Perspective Focusing on terrorism may overlook subtler dangers. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Democracy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/democracy/) [Enemies](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/enemies/) [Enemy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/enemy/) ## Related quotes > [Optimism comes less easily today, not because democracy is less vigorous, but because democracy's enemies have refined their instruments of repression.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ronald-reagan/optimism-comes-less-easily-today-not-because-democracy-is-less/) [Ronald Reagan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ronald-reagan/) > [We're approaching the end of a bloody century plagued by a terrible political invention, totalitarianism. Optimism comes less easily today, not because democracy is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ronald-reagan/we-re-approaching-the-end-of-a-bloody-century-plagued-by-a-terrible/) [Ronald Reagan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ronald-reagan/) > [Greetings and death to our enemies.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dan-aykroyd/greetings-and-death-to-our-enemies/) [Dan Aykroyd](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dan-aykroyd/) > [It is curious how often one prefers his enemies to his friends.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gore-vidal/it-is-curious-how-often-one-prefers-his-enemies-to-his-friends/) [Gore Vidal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gore-vidal/) > [The next time that we meet we meet as enemies!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lynne-ewing/the-next-time-that-we-meet-we-meet-as-enemies/) [Lynne Ewing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lynne-ewing/) > [The fact that you get out of bed ever morning even though you feel like giving up shows how strong you are.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sonya-parker/the-fact-that-you-get-out-of-bed-ever-morning-even-though-you-feel/) [Sonya Parker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sonya-parker/) > [Our enemies are innovative and resourceful...They never stop thinking about new ways to harm our country and our people, and neither do we.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-w-bush-2/our-enemies-are-innovative-and-resourceful-they-never-stop-thinking/) [George W Bush](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-w-bush-2/) > [A sweet thing, perspective - a chance to see your enemies so small.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stanislaw-jerzy-lec/a-sweet-thing-perspective-a-chance-to-see-your-enemies-so-small/) [Stanislaw Jerzy Lec](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stanislaw-jerzy-lec/) > [Whoever will not love his enemies cannot know the Lord and the sweetness of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit teaches us to love…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/silouan-the-athonite/whoever-will-not-love-his-enemies-cannot-know-the-lord-and-the/) [Silouan the Athonite](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/silouan-the-athonite/) > [No accurate thinker will judge another person by that which the other person's enemies say about him.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/napoleon-hill/no-accurate-thinker-will-judge-another-person-by-that-which-the-other/) [Napoleon Hill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/napoleon-hill/) > [You should never hate anyone, even your worst enemies. Everyone has something good about them. You have to find the redeeming quality and love…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeannette-walls/you-should-never-hate-anyone-even-your-worst-enemies-everyone-has/) [Jeannette Walls](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeannette-walls/) > [Sometimes even paranoids have enemies.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/delmore-schwartz/sometimes-even-paranoids-have-enemies/) [Delmore Schwartz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/delmore-schwartz/) > [“Enemies Teach. Friends Preach.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tapan-ghosh/enemies-teach-friends-preach/) [Tapan Ghosh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tapan-ghosh/) > [I don't see why we and the Chinese should have to be enemies.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/indira-gandhi/i-don-t-see-why-we-and-the-chinese-should-have-to-be-enemies/) [Indira Gandhi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/indira-gandhi/) > [“Never let your Enemies become your Advocates.” by A. K. Hasan”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/a-k-hasan/never-let-your-enemies-become-your-advocates-by-a-k-hasan/) A.K. Hasan ## More by Paul Johnson > [“Partly by accident, partly by instinct, partly by deliberate contrivance, he was the first intellectual systematically to exploit the guilt of the privileged. And…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-johnson/partly-by-accident-partly-by-instinct-partly-by-deliberate/) [Paul Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-johnson/) > [ “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… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-johnson/the-salem-witch-trials-can-be-seen-as-an-example-of-the-propensity-of/) [Paul Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-johnson/) > [“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…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-johnson/much-of-sartre-s-time-in-the-1960s-was-spent-travelling-in-china-and/) [Paul Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-johnson/) > [ “He \[Augustine\] admitted: 'I am the sort of man who writes because he has made progress, and who makes progress by writing.' ” ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-johnson/he-augustine-admitted-i-am-the-sort-of-man-who-writes-because-he-has/) [Paul Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/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…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-johnson/the-most-intimidating-world-leader-was-lyndon-johnson-who-became-u-s/) [Paul Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-johnson/) > [“Marx wrote about finance and industry all his life but he only knew two people connected with financial and industrial processes. One was his…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-johnson/marx-wrote-about-finance-and-industry-all-his-life-but-he-only-knew/) [Paul Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-johnson/) > [“When we are dealing with concepts like freedom and equality, it is essential to use words accurately and in good faith. So the eighth…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-johnson/when-we-are-dealing-with-concepts-like-freedom-and-equality-it-is/) [Paul Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-johnson/) > [Margaret Thatcher had more impact on the world than any woman ruler since Catherine the Great of Russia. Not only did she turn around…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-johnson/margaret-thatcher-had-more-impact-on-the-world-than-any-woman-ruler/) [Paul Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-johnson/) > [Wisdom lies not in possessing knowledge - which quickly becomes outdated - but in perpetually seeking it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-johnson/wisdom-lies-not-in-possessing-knowledge-which-quickly-becomes/) [Paul Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/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…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-johnson/the-planet-earth-though-not-threatened-with-destruction-by-man-made/) [Paul Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-johnson/) > [“As Khrushchev put it, “He prodded the capitalist world with the tip of his bayonet.” He himself put it, “If I see a door…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-johnson/as-khrushchev-put-it-he-prodded-the-capitalist-world-with-the-tip-of/) [Paul Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-johnson/) > [“We must never forget that the settlement of what is now the United States was only part of a larger enterprise. And this was…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-johnson/we-must-never-forget-that-the-settlement-of-what-is-now-the-united/) [Paul Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-johnson/) > [Where the quest for knowledge is relatively, and now almost absolutely, unrestrained, the public benefit will be great, especially where the certainty of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-johnson/where-the-quest-for-knowledge-is-relatively-and-now-almost-absolutely/) [Paul Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-johnson/) > [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…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-johnson/if-anti-semitism-is-a-variety-of-racism-it-is-a-most-peculiar-variety/) [Paul Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-johnson/) > [ The richness and variety, and indeed the advance, of our culture depend upon the continuation of this conflict \[between conservatives and radicals\], which is… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-johnson/the-richness-and-variety-and-indeed-the-advance-of-our-culture-depend/) [Paul Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-johnson/) [Explore all 109 Paul Johnson quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-johnson/) ## More Democracies have quotes > [The spirit of democracy cannot be established in the midst of terrorism, whether governmental or popular.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mahatma-gandhi/the-spirit-of-democracy-cannot-be-established-in-the-midst-of/) [Mahatma Gandhi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mahatma-gandhi/) > [The strain of anti-intellectualism has been a constant thread winding its way through our political and cultural life, nurtured by the false notion that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isaac-asimov/the-strain-of-anti-intellectualism-has-been-a-constant-thread-winding/) [Isaac Asimov](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isaac-asimov/) > [No democracy has ever long survived the failure of its adherents to be ready to die for it. My own conviction is this, the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-lloyd-george/no-democracy-has-ever-long-survived-the-failure-of-its-adherents-to/) [David Lloyd George](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-lloyd-george/) > [It is a law of governance that democracies have to spend themselves dizzy. Citizens of democracies can, after all, tell their government to give…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/p-j-o-rourke/it-is-a-law-of-governance-that-democracies-have-to-spend-themselves/) [P. J. O'Rourke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/p-j-o-rourke/) > [A democracy cannot exist as a permanent form of government. It can only exist until a majority of voters discover that they can vote…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexander-fraser-tytler/a-democracy-cannot-exist-as-a-permanent-form-of-government-it-can/) [Alexander Fraser Tytler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexander-fraser-tytler/) > [A pure Democracy, by which I mean a Society consisting of a small number of citizens, who assemble and administer the Government in person,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-madison/a-pure-democracy-by-which-i-mean-a-society-consisting-of-a-small/) [James Madison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-madison/) > [Many forms of Government have been tried, and will be tried in this world of sin and woe. No one pretends that democracy is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/winston-churchill/many-forms-of-government-have-been-tried-and-will-be-tried-in-this/) [Winston Churchill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/winston-churchill/) > [Democracies have been, and governments called, free; but the spirit of independence and the consciousness of unalienable rights, were never before transfused into the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sarah-josepha-hale/democracies-have-been-and-governments-called-free-but-the-spirit-of/) [Sarah Josepha Hale](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sarah-josepha-hale/) > [For our democracy has been marred by imperialism, and it has been enlightened only by individual and sporadic efforts at freedom.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pearl-s-buck/for-our-democracy-has-been-marred-by-imperialism-and-it-has-been/) [Pearl S. Buck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pearl-s-buck/) > [Hence it is that such democracies have ever been spectacles of turbulence and contention; have ever been found incompatible with personal security or the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-madison/hence-it-is-that-such-democracies-have-ever-been-spectacles-of/) [James Madison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-madison/) > [In Cuba, our experiment is not the best democracy and should not be a reference to anybody elses, it is ours. It has worked…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alejandro-castro-espin/in-cuba-our-experiment-is-not-the-best-democracy-and-should-not-be-a/) [Alejandro Castro Espin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alejandro-castro-espin/) > [Democracy cannot exist as a permanent form of government. It can only exist until the voters discover they can vote themselves largesse out of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexander-fraser-tytler/democracy-cannot-exist-as-a-permanent-form-of-government-it-can-only/) [Alexander Fraser Tytler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexander-fraser-tytler/) > [Laws provide against injury from others; but not from ourselves.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-jefferson/laws-provide-against-injury-from-others-but-not-from-ourselves/) [Thomas Jefferson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-jefferson/) > [All deductions having been made, democracy has done less harm, and more good, than any other form of government. It gave to human existence…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/will-durant/all-deductions-having-been-made-democracy-has-done-less-harm-and-more/) [Will Durant](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/will-durant/) > [Our democracy has been around far longer than European democracy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hillary-clinton/our-democracy-has-been-around-far-longer-than-european-democracy/) [Hillary Clinton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hillary-clinton/) Browse all 123 Democracies have quotes ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Democracy has many enemies, and the terrorist is only one of them.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Paul Johnson" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-johnson/democracy-has-many-enemies-and-the-terrorist-is-only-one-of-them/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Democracies have" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-johnson/democracy-has-many-enemies-and-the-terrorist-is-only-one-of-them/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/535/paul-johnson-4585_democracies-have_democracy-has-many-enemies-and-the-terro_202839.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/535/paul-johnson-4585_democracies-have_democracy-has-many-enemies-and-the-terro_202839.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/535/paul-johnson-4585_democracies-have_democracy-has-many-enemies-and-the-terro_202839.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Democracy has many enemies, and the terrorist is only one of them.” — Paul Johnson", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Paul Johnson", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-johnson/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "Democracy has many enemies, and the...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-johnson/democracy-has-many-enemies-and-the-terrorist-is-only-one-of-them/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-johnson/democracy-has-many-enemies-and-the-terrorist-is-only-one-of-them/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```