He’ll pass then, whereas Kennedy could never have passed them

One Senator did not share those feelings [that the South could block civil rights]. “Smarter than they are” though Richard Russell may have been – smarter than his opponents in the Senate – it was not other senators who were Russell’s real opponents now, but the new President, and Russell felt that would change everything. The Kennedy bills would be passed now, Russell told a friend. “He’ll pass then, whereas Kennedy could never have passed them.” (465)

R. Caro, The years of Lyndon Johnson, Volume 4: the passage of power (2012), 465

How can I get that hand out of his pocket – so I can cut his balls off

Johnson told an assistant: “You know the difference between Hubert and me? When Hubert sits across from [Labour leader] Reuther and Reuther’s got that limp hand stuck in his pocket and starts talking … Hubert will sit there smiling away and thinking all the time, ‘How can I get his hand out of his pocket so I can shake it?’ When Reuther sits across from me,” Lyndon Johnson said, “I’m smiling and thinking all the time, ‘How can I get that hand out of his pocket – so I can cut his balls off !”

R. Caro, The years of Lyndon Johnson, Volume 3: master of the senate (2002), 459

The utter inability to comprehend the questions of morality or ethics raised by his actions

When they [Johnson’s Lawyers] gave clients advice, the clients usually followed it. Lyndon did not follow it. During the next few days in that September 1948 – those days of crisis – he was to display vividly many of the most striking qualities of his nature. One was the fierceness and determination with which he grabbed for political advantage, grabbed it and, one he had it in his grasp, held onto it. … Another was the utter inability to comprehend the questions of morality or ethics raised by his actions, an utter inability to feel that there was even a possibility that he had violated accepted standards of conduct and might be punished for that violation. But, during this conference and during the following days, Lyndon Johnson was also to display many of the qualities that made him a leader of men. [These were responsibility, decisiveness and force of personality] 

R. Caro, The years of Lyndon Johnson, Volume 2: means of ascent (1990), 357

When the election is over, you have to sit on the ballot boxes

Lyndon, apparently you Texans haven’t learned one of the first things we learned up in New York State, and that is when the election is over, you have to sit on the ballot boxes.

FDR, cited in R. Caro, the years of Lyndon Johnson, volume 1: the path to power (1982), 742

His power base wasn’t his congressional district, it was Herman Brown’s bank account

The new power he possessed did not derive from Roosevelt’s friendship, or from Rayburn’s. It did not derive from seniority in the House, not even – despite the relationship that power in a democracy bears to the votes of the electorate – to his seat in it. His power was simply the power of money. To a considerable extent, the money was Herman Brown’s…. His power base wasn’t his congressional district, it was Herman Brown’s bank account

R. Caro, the years of Lyndon Johnson, volume 1: the path to power (1982), 659

And all over the Hill Country people began to name their kids for Lyndon Johnson

One evening in November, 1939, the Smiths were returning from Johnson City, where they had been attending a declamation contest, and as they neared their farmhouse, something was different.

 “Oh my God,” her mother said, “The house is on fire!”
But as they got closer, they saw the light wasn’t fire. 

“No, Mama,” Evelyn said, “The lights are on.”
They were on all over the Hill Country. “And all over the Hill Country,” Stella Gliddon says, “people began to name their kids for Lyndon Johnson.”

R. Caro, The years of Lyndon Johnson, volume 1: the path to power (1982), 528

This whole chapter on electrification and the impact it has on poor, rural communities, is outstanding. And these final lines are a superb end.