Quotes about Diplomacy

In other words, don't argue with your customer or your spouse or your adversary. Don't tell them they are wrong, don't get them stirred up. Use a little diplomacy.

I would rather have peace in the world than be President.

We shall never be able to remove suspicion and fear as potential causes of war until communication is permitted to flow, free and open, across international boundaries.

Tact is the ability to step on a man's toes without messing up the shine on his shoes.

The President may have a great many powers given to him by the Constitution and may have certain powers under certain laws which are given to him by the Congress of the United States; but the principal power that the President had is to bring people in and try to persuade them to do what they ought to do without persuasion.

I will not comment on or confirm what are alleged to be stolen State Department cables. But I can say that the United States deeply regrets the disclosure of any information that was intended to be confidential, including private discussions between counterparts or our diplomats' personal assessments and observations.

The words of an ambassador are always other-centered. Consider the problem ("according to their needs")

My words must be shaped by your need. An ambassador's words always address the person's true need of the moment.

An ambassador seeks to speak the right thing in the best way.

American foreign policy and military might have opened an opportunity for the Gospel in the land of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.

Meeting Franklin Roosevelt was like opening your first bottle of champagne; knowing him was like drinking it.

it doesn't pay to argue, that it is much more profitable and much more interesting to look at things from the other person's viewpoint and try to get that person saying 'yes, yes.