Quotes about Diplomacy

War is what happens when language fails.

Compromise is the essence of diplomacy; and diplomacy is the cornerstone of love.

Diplomacy is the art of saying "Nice Doggie!" till you can find a rock.

Diplomacy is the art of saying "Nice doggie" until you can find a rock.

Diplomats are just as essential in starting a war as soldiers are in finishing it. . . . You take diplomacy out of war, and the thing would fall flat in a week.

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

A diplomat is a man who says you have an open mind, instead of telling you that you have a hole in the head.

In archaeology you uncover the unknown. In diplomacy you cover the known.

A diplomat is a man who always remembers a woman's birthday but never remembers her age.

Diplomacy - the art of letting someone else have your own way.

Diplomacy means the art of nearly deceiving all your friends, but not quite deceiving all your enemies.

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."

Everything ends this way in France - everything. Weddings, christenings, duels, funerals, swindlings, diplomatic affairs - everything is a pretext for a good dinner.

Mathematical economics is old enough to be respectable, but not all economists respect it. It has powerful supporters and impressive testimonials, yet many capable economists deny that mathematics, except as a shorthand or expository device, can be applied to economic reasoning. There have even been rumors that mathematics is used in economics (and in other social sciences) either for the deliberate purpose of mystification or to confer dignity upon common places as French was once used in diplomatic communications.

Diplomacy is to do and say the nastiest things in the nicest way.

To act with doubleness towards a man whose own conduct was double, was so near an approach to virtue that it deserved to be called by no meaner name than diplomacy.

It could be inferred from President Roosevelt's public statements that the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor had come as a complete surprise to his administration - that it had not been, and could not have been, anticipated. . . . "The United States was at peace with that Nation [Japan] and, at the solicitation of Japan, was still in conversation with its Government and its Emperor looking toward the maintenance of peace in the Pacific. Indeed one hour after Japanese air squadrons had commenced bombing in the American Island of Oahu, the Japanese Ambassador to the United States and his colleague delivered to our Secretary of State a formal reply to a recent American message. And while this reply stated that it seemed useless to continue the existing diplomatic relations, it contained no threat or hint of war or of armed attack. It will be recorded that the distance of Hawaii from Japan makes it obvious that the attack was deliberately planned many days or even weeks ago. During the intervening time the Japanese Government has deliberately sought to deceive the United States by false statements and expressions of hope for continued peace."

To say that politics is not a part of sports is not being realistic. When I run, I am more than a runner. I am a diplomat, an ambassador for my country.

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.

Negotiating in the classic diplomatic sense assumes parties more anxious to agree than to disagree.

Diplomacy is the art of letting someone have your way.

A diplomat is a person who can tell you to go to hell in such a way that you actually look forward to the trip.

A diplomat is a person who: -always knows what to talk about, but doesn't always talk about what he knows. -always tries to settle problems created by other diplomats. -can always make himself misunderstood. -can bring home the bacon without spilling the beans. -can say the nastiest things in the nicest way. -can tell you to go to hell so tactfully that you look forward to the trip. -comes right out and says what he thinks when he agrees with you. -divides his time between running for office and running for cover. -lets you do all the talking while he gets what he wants. -puts his cards on the table, but still has some up each sleeve. -will lay down your life for his country.

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

ULTIMATUM, n. In diplomacy, a last demand before resorting to concessions.

MINISTER, n. An agent of a higher power with a lower responsibility. In diplomacy, an officer sent into a foreign country as the visible embodiment of his sovereign's hostility.

DIPLOMACY, n. Lying in state, or the patriotic art of lying for one's country.