Diplomacy Quotes

• To say nothing, especially when speaking, is half the art of diplomacy.

  Will Durant

  Art, Communication, Half

  Will Durant, Ariel Durant (1961). “The Story of Civilization: The Age of Reason begins, 1558-1648”

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  Diplomacy is the art of telling people to go to hell in such a way that they ask for directions.

  Winston Churchill

  Art, People, Way

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• There is no diplomacy like silence.

  Benjamin Disraeli

  Silence

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• ...words are some of the most powerful and important things I know....Language is the tool of love and the weapon of hatred. It's the bright red warning flag of danger--and the stone foundation of diplomacy and peace.

  Ani DiFranco

  Powerful, Hatred, Important

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• Diplomacy is a game of chess in which the nations are checkmated.

  Karl Kraus

  Games, Chess, Nations

  Karl Kraus (1976). “Half-truths & One-and-a-half Truths: Selected Aphorisms”

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• Diplomacy is the art of letting the other party have things your way.

  Daniele Vare

  Art, Party, Way

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• Diplomats are useful only in fair weather. As soon as it rains they drown in every drop.

  Charles de Gaulle

  Military, Rain, Weather

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• The real secret about diplomats is that we're trained to say something, when there is nothing to say, and to say nothing when there is something to say.

  Jon Huntsman, Jr.

  Real, Secret, Diplomats

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• Diplomacy and defense are not substitutes for one another. Either alone would fail.

  John F. Kennedy

  Defense, Failing, Substitutes

  Address at the University of Washington's 100th Anniversary Program, www.jfklibrary.org. November 16, 1961.

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• Diplomacy - the art of jumping into trouble without making a splash.

  Art Linkletter

  Art, Jumping, Trouble

  "Biography / Personal Quotes". www.imdb.com.

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• If you need something from somebody always give that person a way to hand it to you.

  Sue Monk Kidd

  Relationship, Hands, Giving

  Barbara Taylor Bradford, Sue Monk Kidd (2001). “Of love and life: three novels selected and condensed by Reader's Digest”

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• Trying to negotiate getting a couple of kids to watch the same TV show requires serious diplomacy.

  Dee Dee Myers

  Inspirational, Couple, Kids

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• When we're trying to solve difficult national issues its sometimes necessary to talk to adversaries as well as friends. Historians have a word for this: diplomacy.

  Madeleine Albright

  Issues, Trying, Sometimes

  "Albright Calls for Diplomacy in Iraq" by Brenda C. Maldonado, www.thecrimson.com. April 12, 2007.

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• Speak softly and carry a big stick; you will go far.

  Theodore Roosevelt

  Leadership, Presidential, Sticks

  Letter to Henry L. Sprague, 26 Jan. 1900

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• Diplomacy is much more than just talking to your friends... You've got to talk to people who aren't our friends, and even people you dislike.

  Richard Armitage

  Talking, People, Dislike

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• Diplomacy is not merely talking somebody into something; it's talking to somebody from a position of strength. You put your power on the table to open up the conversation; that's diplomacy.

  Daniel Fried

  Talking, Tables, Conversation

  Source: www.politico.com

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• In a world of complex threats, our security and leadership depends on all elements of our power - including strong and principled diplomacy.

  Barack Obama

  Inspirational, Strong, Elements

  Fifth Presidential State of the Union, delivered 28 January 2014

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• The principle of give and take is the principle of diplomacy - give one and take ten

  Mark Twain

  Funny, Humor, Giving

  Mark Twain (2014). “Mark Twain on Common Sense: Timeless Advice and Words of Wisdom from America's Most-Revered Humorist”, p.19, Skyhorse Publishing, Inc.

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• Diplomacy is to do and say, the nastiest thing in the nicest way.

  Isaac Goldberg

  Fear, Way, Diplomats

  The Reflex, Oct. 1927

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• All diplomacy is a continuation of war by other means.

  Zhou Enlai

  War, Mean, Diplomats

  Saturday Evening Post, March 27, 1954.

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• All war represents a failure of diplomacy.

  Tony Benn

  War, Failure, Diplomats

  Tony Benn's Speech in House of Commons, hansard.millbanksystems.com. February 28, 1991.

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• diplomacy, n.: The patriotic art of lying for one's country.

  Ambrose Bierce

  Sarcastic, Country, Art

  Ambrose Bierce (2016). “The Devil's Dictionary: The Devil World”, p.47, 谷月社

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• War is failure of diplomacy.

  John Dingell

  War

  "CNN Novak, Hunt & Shields". Interview With John Dingell, www.cnn.com. October 19, 2002.

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• Diplomats were invented simply to waste time.

  David Lloyd George

  Time, Political, Politics

  On preparation for the Paris Peace Conference, November 1918.

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• Diplomacy, of course, is a subtle and nuanced craft, so much so that it's said that when the most wily diplomat of the nineteenth-century passed away, other diplomats asked, on reports of his death, "What do you suppose the old fox meant by that?

  Ronald Reagan

  Crafts, Diplomats, Foxes

  Address to United Nations General Assembly, September 21, 1987.

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