"a sign no-one could escape the long arm of Russian revenge ... was a sign that President Putin or the Russian state wanted to give to potential defectors in their own agencies: 'This is what happens to you if you decide to support a country with a different set of values. You can expect to be assassinated'."

Boris Johnson Politics See all quotes by Boris Johnson →

React to this quote

More by Boris Johnson

“We will be informed by our most important ally that it is in our interests to stay in the EU, no matter how flawed we may feel that organisation to be. Never mind the loss of sovereignty; never mind the expense and the bureaucracy and the uncontrolled immigration. The American view is very clear.”

“What we hate, what we fear, is being ignored.”

“In 1904, 20 per cent of journeys were made by bicycle in London. I want to see a figure like that again. If you can't turn the clock back to 1904, what's the point of being a Conservative?”

“If you tell me that the burka is oppressive, then I am with you”

“We are confident in our story and will be fighting this all the way. I am very sorry that Alastair Campbell has taken this decision but I can see that he got his tits in the wringer.”

“I would like to thank first the vast multitudes who voted against me - and I have met quite a few in the last nine months, not all of them entirely polite.”

Resonant Thoughts

"“One day at Ahmadabad it was reported that many of the infidel and superstitious sect of the Seoras of Gujarat had made several very great and splendid temples, and having placed in them their false g…"

— Jahangir

Business1569–1627

#religion

"It is indisputable that the Ramjanmabhumi/Babri Masjid debate has bee dominated by a handful of historians from Jawaharlal Nehru University , Delhi University and Aligarh Muslim University , with stra…"

— Meenakshi Jain

Science2000

#writing

"The children face problems such as violence, abuse, suicide etc. that medicine can not heal. It will never help these children psychologically and be his support ...? Even when they are in difficulty,…"

— Osamu Tezuka

Art1928–1989

#family

"I would keep writing even without the eventual possibility of glory. Really, with writing, the idea that I was going to be able to support myself was a long shot. I’m living off my writing now, withou…"

— Joey Comeau

Literature1980

#life