When great leaders step down, they often leave us with grand words that inspire and command us.
From Alexander the Great to Nelson Mandela, these giants of history have left behind their wisdom and strength – and Boris Johnson is no different.
As he leaves office, he emboldens us with the power of his language, saying: “If you have an old kettle, it may cost £20 to replace it but if you get a new one, you can save £10 a year.”
It’s almost as if Abraham Lincoln is still with us. Because if you follow that advice, within two years you’ll have made the £20 back.
Of course, by then your kettle will be two years old so it will need replacing, which will cost another £20.
But as long as you keep replacing it every two years, you’ll save a fortune.
(
Getty Images/EyeEm)
He should do more of these, such as: “It takes 20 minutes to go round the house with a vacuum cleaner, which uses up rather a lot of electricity.
“So you should buy a second vacuum cleaner, then if two of you vacuum the house at the same time, starting at opposite ends, you can do it in only 10 minutes.
“With the money you save, you can go on holiday to Greece.”
His new career should be presenting a TV show called Boris’s Money Tips, in which he shares his lifetime’s experiences of being careful with money.
He can tell us: “Today I’m going to talk to you about toilet brushes.
“We all need a clean brush in this delicate area of the house, but they can cost as much as £4.50 in a local hardware store. To save money, I suggest you do what I did, and get Lord Brownlow to give you £60,000 to get the whole place refitted.”
(
PA)
Another day, he can say: “When you hold a party, you will want plenty of photos to remember the jolly times you had. But a good photographer can cost an absolute fortune these days.
“So why not pass laws that no one can hold a party, then go to a big stack of them yourself and hey presto! Hundreds of pictures of your fun will appear in the newspapers that you can cut out and keep in your album – and all for absolutely free!” Boris will become the first person we listen to for ideas of how to cut costs because he famously spent £800 a roll for his wallpaper.
But there was a bit left over which he used as wrapping paper at Christmas because he’s careful with the pennies.
Boris is often described as a great communicator because of the clear and thorough way he speaks.
For example, if you asked him the way to the Co-op, he’d say: “Ah, humph, it’s quite simple, cucumber, I’ve had their cucumber, I have been there many times, habeas corpus, coitus interruptus. Sainsbury’s, you say? We have concluded a very exciting trade deal with Panama.”
He will be truly missed.