Diplomacy Quotes - Page 6

• Diplomacy means all the wicked devices of the Old World, spheres of influence, balances of power, secret treaties, triple alliances, and, during the interim period, appeasement of Fascism.

  Barbara Tuchman

  Mean, Power, Secret

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• Diplomacy is the lowest form of politeness because it misquotes the greatest number of people. A nation, like an individual, if it has anything to say, should simply say it.

  E. B. White

  Numbers, People, Courtesy

  E. B. White (2011). “In the Words of E.B. White: Quotations from America's Most Companionable of Writers”, p.93, Cornell University Press

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• For me personally and for most other Americans, this commitment to peace and diplomacy does not imply a blind or total pacifism. There are times when war is justified, and for many centuries the moral criteria for violence have been carefully delineated.

  Jimmy Carter

  War, Commitment, Doe

  Jimmy Carter (2014). “The Jimmy Carter Library”, p.532, Simon and Schuster

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• You're in America now," I said. "Our idea of diplomacy is showing up with a gun in one hand and a sandwich in the other and asking which you'd prefer.

  Jim Butcher

  Gun, Hands, Ideas

  Jim Butcher (2009). “Turn Coat: A Novel of the Dresden Files”, p.154, Penguin

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• Diplomacy is much like the "lovemaking of elephants", which is accompanied with a lot of bellowing and other sound effects, but no one can be sure of the consequences for at least the next two years

  Shashi Tharoor

  Years, Elephants, Two

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• A diplomat these days is nothing but a head waiter who's allowed to sit down occasionally.

  Peter Ustinov

  Diplomats, These Days, Waiter

  "Romanoff and Juliet".

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• Once we understand how they think, we can predict their behaviour. And once we predict it well, we can manipulate it. That is diplomacy.

  Charlie Huston

  Thinking, Behaviour, Manipulate

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• The art of life is to show your hand. There is no diplomacy like candor. You may lose by it now and then, but it will be a loss well gained if you do. Nothing is so boring as having to keep up a deception.

  E. V. Lucas

  Life, Art, Loss

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• It is a principle of diplomacy that one must know something of the truth in order to lie convincingly.

  Tom Clancy

  Lying, Order, Principles

  Tom Clancy (1992). “The Hunt for Red October”, p.158, Penguin

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• War is tragedy. The great war stories are tragedies. It's the failure of diplomacy. 'War and Peace,' 'A Farewell to Arms,' 'For Whom the Bell Tolls.' Those are some of the greatest tragedies.

  David Mamet

  War, Farewell, Tragedy

  "TheDC Interviews: David Mamet talks War". Interview with Patrick Howley, dailycaller.com. December 27, 2013.

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• Hunger, disease and poverty can lead to global instability and leave a vacuum for extremism to fill. So instead of just managing poverty, we must offer nations and people a pathway out of poverty. And as president I've made development a pillar of our foreign policy, alongside diplomacy and defense.

  Barack Obama

  People, President, Pathways

  "Politics and Foreign Aid: What Romney and Obama Can Learn from Huckabee and Lincoln" by Tom Murphy, www.huffingtonpost.com. October 23, 2012.

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• You might not be ready for diplomacy with Beijing if you can't visit the Olympics without insulting our closest ally.

  Barack Obama

  Insulting, Allies, Olympics

  Second Democratic Presidential Nomination Acceptance Speech, delivered 6 September 2012, Charlotte, North Carolina

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• Reconciling with an adversary that can be as brutal as the Taliban sounds distasteful, even unimaginable. And diplomacy would be easy if we only had to talk to our friends. But that is not how one makes peace.

  Hillary Clinton

  Sound, Would Be, Easy

  "Taliban talks could be closer" by Jonathan Steele, www.theguardian.com. March 28, 2011.

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• International arbitration may be defined as the substitution of many burning questions for a smoldering one

  Ambrose Bierce

  Arbitration, Burning, May

  Ambrose Bierce (1909). “The Shadow on the Dial: And Other Essays”

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• Diplomacy has more to do with (credible) threats than with sweet reason. And threats from America are a lot more credible, nowadays.

  Glenn Reynolds

  Sweet, America, Politics

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• The proper motto is not Be good, sweet maid, and let who can be clever, but Be good sweet maid, and don't forget that this involves being as clever as you can. God is no fonder of intellectual slackers than any other slackers.

  C. S. Lewis

  Sweet, Clever, Intellectual

  C. S. Lewis (2012). “The Complete C. S. Lewis Signature Classics”, p.74, HarperCollins UK

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• The dilemma of our age is the combination of unprecedented material progress and systematic spiritual decline. The decline in public and private morality can be witnessed in the marketplace as well as the forums of international diplomacy. In the past, a man's honor and reputation were his most valuable assets. Business agreements were made with a handshake. Today one might be well advised to check the "bottom line" and read the "small print."

  King Hussein I

  Spiritual, Business, Past

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• We favor a strong nonproliferation program that emphasizes diplomacy, reliance on multilateral regimes, controls on nuclear materials, and cooperative nuclear threat reduction.

  George W. Bush

  Religious, Strong, Nuclear

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• In diplomacy, as in life itself, one often learns more from failures than from successes. Triumphs will seem, in retrospect, to be foreordained, a series of brilliant actions and decisions that may in fact have been lucky or inadvertent, whereas failures illuminate paths and pitfalls to be avoided.

  Richard Holbrooke

  Decision, Pitfalls, Triumph

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• Diplomacy is unfashionable in the world of knee-jerk reaction and the dogmatic sound bite on television.

  Douglas Hurd

  Knee Jerk Reactions, Knees, Sound

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• I want justice to be upheld. I want all-out diplomacy.

  Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono

  Justice, Want

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• Getting you a date to prom is so hard that the hypothetical idea itself is actually used to cut diamonds. Ben, getting you a date to prom is so hard that the American government believes the problem cannot be solved with diplomacy, but will instead require force.

  John Green

  Believe, Cutting, Ideas

  "Paper Towns". Book by John Green, 2008.

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• If you're anti-war it doesn't mean you are 'Pro' one side or the other in a conflict. However, it does make you 'Pro' many thingsPro-Peace, Pro-Human, Pro-Evolution, it makes you Pro-Communication, Pro-Diplomacy, Pro-Love, Pro-Understanding, Pro-Forgiveness.

  Eddie Vedder

  War, Communication, Mean

  "Eddie Vedder Plays 'Imagine' at Concert, Reinforces Anti-War Stance" by Kory Grow, www.rollingstone.com. July 21, 2014.

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• Verification and diplomacy, used in conjunction, can be effective,.

  Mohamed ElBaradei

  Used, Conjunctions, Verification

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• Lawyers do not mix with diplomacy.

  Charles Stross

  Lawyer

  Charles Stross (2005). “Accelerando”, p.200, Penguin

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