Foreign Affairs Quotes

• Domestic policy can only defeat us; foreign policy can kill us.

  John F. Kennedy

  Defeat, Foreign Policy, Domestic Policy

  8 Copy quote

• Watching foreign affairs is sometimes like watching a magician; the eye is drawn to the hand performing the dramatic flourishes, leaving the other hand - the one doing the important job - unnoticed.

  David K. Shipler

  Jobs, Eye, Hands

  8 Copy quote

• The success of this Government, and thus the success of our Nation, depends in the last analysis upon the quality.of our career services. The legislation enacted by the Congress, as well as the decisions made by me and by the department and agency heads, must all be implemented by the career men and women in the Federal service. In foreign affairs, national defense, science and technology, and a host of other fields, they face problems of unprecedented importance and perplexity. We are all dependent on their sense of loyalty and responsibility as well as their competence and energy.

  John F. Kennedy

  Loyalty, Responsibility, Technology

  "Special Message to the Congress on Federal Pay Reform". February 20, 1962.

  8 Copy quote

  Show source

• In foreign affairs we must make up our minds that whether we wish it or not, we are a great people and must play a great part in the world. It is not open to us to choose whether we will play that great part or not.

  Theodore Roosevelt

  Play, People, Mind

  "A Compilation of the Messages and Speeches of Theodore Roosevelt, 1901-1905".

  4 Copy quote

  Show source

• the issue of war or peace is an issue that concerns not only experts on Foreign Affairs but every citizen of the United States.

  Anne Morrow Lindbergh

  War, Issues, United States

  Anne Morrow Lindbergh (1981). “War within and without: diaries and letters of Anne Morrow Lindbergh, 1939-1944”, Berkley

  4 Copy quote

  Show source

• We're in an illusion about what our role is in world politics and foreign affairs, and our policies are killing and destroying and doing a lot of things that we are not aware of.

  Talib Kweli

  Roles, World, Affair

  8 Copy quote

• Most vagabonds i knowed don't ever want to find the culprit that remains the object of their long relentless quest. The obsession's in the chasing and not the apprehending, the pursuit you see and never the arrest" - Tom Waits "Foreign Affairs

  Tom Waits

  Long, Waiting, Vagabonds

  Tom Waits (2007). “The Early Years: The Lyrics of Tom Waits 1971-1983”, Ecco

  12 Copy quote

  Show source

• I don't believe I'll ever get credit for anything I do in foreign affairs, no matter how successful it is, because I didn't go to Harvard.

  Lyndon B. Johnson

  Believe, Successful, Credit

  To columnist Hugh Sidey. Quoted in Alistair Cooke The Americans (1980).

  7 Copy quote

  Show source

• The very phrase 'foreign affairs' makes an Englishman convinced that I am about to treat of subjects with which he has no concern.

  Benjamin Disraeli

  Political, Phrases, Politics

  Benjamin Disraeli (2016). “Delphi Complete Works of Benjamin Disraeli (Illustrated)”, p.4987, Delphi Classics

  10 Copy quote

  Show source

• We look a little bit disorderly, indecisive, leaderless. That's a real problem, and that's a problem that concerns me particularly on foreign affairs. The presidency, not just President Obama, but the presidency in recent years has lost some of the terrain that they used to dominate in the making of foreign policy. I think President Obama has to make a serious effort to regain it because he lost some of it himself.

  Zbigniew Brzezinski

  Real, Thinking, Years

  4 Copy quote

• Neville Chamberlain looked at foreign affairs through the wrong end of a municipal drainpipe.

  Winston Churchill

  Political, Politics, Affair

  4 Copy quote

• Decision-making power, whether it's on foreign affairs or domestic affairs, is concentrated in the White House in a reasonably small circle.

  David Brooks

  Circles, White, House

  "Shields and Brooks on Hagel’s Rough Hearing, Movement on Immigration". "PBS Newshour", www.pbs.org. February 1, 2013.

  4 Copy quote

  Show source

• Our best presidents have really combined domestic leadership with heroic achievements in foreign affairs or war.

  Allan Lichtman

  War, Achievement, President

  5 Copy quote

• In foreign affairs, the president can do what he wants unless Congress says no. In domestic policy, the president can't do anything unless Congress says yes.

  Bill Vaughan

  President, Want, Affair

  7 Copy quote

• When the San Francisco Democrats treat foreign affairs as an afterthought, as they did, they behaved less like a dove or a hawk than like an ostrich - convinced it could shut out the world by hiding its head in the sand.

  Jeane Kirkpatrick

  Ostriches, San Francisco, World

  Jeane J. Kirkpatrick (2018). “Legitimacy and Force: State Papers and Current Perspectives: Volume 1: Political and Moral Dimensions”, p.594, Routledge

  7 Copy quote

  Show source

• I found Mr. Carter's actions toward the Republic of China so incredible that they defy description by socially acceptable expletives. If December 7, 1941 was a "day of infamy" then December 15, 1978 ranks right up there in international betrayal...The pathetic thing about this whole mess, however, is that it is typical of this administration's conduct of foreign affairs, which could be kindly described as being riddled by ineptitude and hypocrisy.

  Barry Goldwater

  Betrayal, War, Hypocrisy

  5 Copy quote

• The people [in the USA] are not very well informed. They certainly don`t know history. They certainly are not interested in foreign affairs very much, unless it comes right to their doorstep. They all learn history through wars. They learn geography through wars.

  Bill Maher

  War, Usa, People

  12 Copy quote

• I studied political science and international relations and had the intention of becoming a journalist or work in foreign affairs. I had no intention of making a film.

  Philippe Falardeau

  Political, Becoming, Film

  6 Copy quote

• My every decision on trade, on taxes, on immigration, on foreign affairs will be made to benefit American workers and American families.

  Donald Trump

  Decision, Immigration, Benefits

  Source: www.npr.org

  4 Copy quote

  Show source

• It's simply not true that Donald Trump has no experience in foreign affairs. Hell, two of his foreign affairs resulted in marriages!

  Michael R. Burch

  Two, Hell, Affair

  4 Copy quote

• Geoffrey's personal style was very different from mine. He has a lovely speaking voice, a quiet speaking voice. But at Cabinet we always reported on foreign affairs - we always had this quiet voice. It was so quiet sometimes I had to say 'speak up'. And he gave it in a way which wasn't exactly scintillating. And you know, foreign affairs are interesting. They affect everything that happened to our own way of life, and they are exciting. And so we just diverged.

  Margaret Thatcher

  Quiet Voice, Interesting, Style

  4 Copy quote

• On foreign affairs, we've already begun enormously productive talks with many foreign leaders, much of it you've covered, to move forward toward stability, security and peace in the most troubled regions of the world, which there are many.

  Donald Trump

  Moving, Leader, World

  Source: www.esquire.com

  4 Copy quote

  Show source

• There are a few instances that arise in the unique context of domestic equal-protection challenges to governmental actions that are facially neutral but produce substantial discriminatory impacts on groups of people, based on such suspect classifications as race, nationality, ethnic origin, etc. This doctrine has never been used in foreign affairs.

  David B. Rivkin

  Unique, Impact, Race

  "Is President Trump’s executive order constitutional?" by David B. Rivkin Jr., Karen Tumlin and James Downie, davidbrivkin.com. February 6, 2017.

  4 Copy quote

  Show source

• People are always asking me in interviews, 'What do you think of foreign affairs?' I just say, 'I've had a few.'

  Dolly Parton

  Thinking, People, Asking

  4 Copy quote

• I fully, fully concede that Secretary Hillary Clinton, who was secretary of State for four years, has more experience - hat is not arguable - in foreign affairs.

  Bernie Sanders

  Years, Four, Hats

  Source: www.washingtonpost.com

  7 Copy quote

  Show source