Diplomats Quotes

But the dreams of designing diplomats do not always prosper, and we must trust the future . ~ John Maynard Keynes

One thing we got to be thankful for our Soldiers can win wars faster than our Diplomats can talk us into them, ~ Will Rogers

But the doctors in the past, as the review of the evidence showed, branded Jenner, Semmelweis, Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr., Pasteur, Lister, Koch and Keen as charlatans ... Napoleon said that war is too important to be left to the generals. We go on the assumption in the Senate that foreign relations are too important to be left to the diplomats ... this question (on a novel cancer cure) is too important to leave purely to doctors ... ~ Paul Douglas

I'm a diplomat by nature. I help find the middle ground. I crack a joke and use humour to help resolve potentially vicious situations quickly. It gets things in perspective and helps everyone to see that things aren't as bad as they seem. ~ Ronnie Wood

That is why diplomats smile: it is not hypocrisy - it is a sort of metaphysical awareness of the human impossibility of their task. ~ Charles Malik

When the Chinese court deigned to send envoys abroad, they were not diplomats, but "Heavenly Envoys" from the Celestial Court. ~ Henry Kissinger

I have always wondered what it would have been like for an outsider to have witnessed firsthand the gathering dark of Hitler's rule. How did the city look, what did one hear, see, and smell, and how did diplomats and other visitors interpret the events occurring around them? Hindsight tells us that during that fragile time the course of history could so easily have been changed. Why, then, did no one change it? Why did it take so long to recognize the real danger posed by Hitler and his regime? ~ Erik Larson

All war represents a failure of diplomacy. ~ Tony Benn

Today, only two groups in the United States have total immunity from lawsuits: foreign diplomats and HMOs. We believe it's time to end diplomatic immunity for HMOs. Holding them accountable is the only way to guarantee that you get the health care your family deserves. ~ Tom Harkin

Congress has shortchanged not only foreign aid but foreign policy. A mistaken notion that diplomats are unimportant and hence undeserving of support grips conservative legislators, especially. ~ Anthony Lewis

The big risk to British lives in 2013 is in Afghanistan. Our troops, diplomats and aid workers have made a big contribution there. But while there is an end date for Western engagement, 2014, there isn't a proper end game. ~ David Miliband

I have against me the bourgeois, the military and the diplomats, and for me, only the people who take the Metro. ~ Charles De Gaulle

Diplomacy is to do and say, the nastiest things in the nicest way. ~ Isaac Goldberg

In a chaotic world, U.S. diplomats will probably have even less contact with the people they need to reach. ~ David Ignatius

Only professional diplomats, inveterate idiots and women view diplomacy as a long-term substitute for war. ~ David Mitchell

The passenger refuses to talk. He's only asked for protection. I've gotten calls from a dozen diplomats already. We'll have to let him go in an hour or so. Before that, we need some information from him. We're drifting now." "And you think I can succeed where you failed?" "I am not paid for uncertainty, Agent. Do your thing. ~ Nathan Edmondson

I listened to the men's voices outside, muted by my car walls.
" ... went at it with a flamethrower in the online video. Didn't even pucker the paint."
"Of course not. You could roll a tank over this baby. Not much of a market for one over here. Designed for Middle East Diplomats, arm dealers, and drug lords mostly."
"Think she's something?" the short one asked in a softer voice. I ducked my head, cheeks flaming.
"Huh," the tall one said. "Maybe. Can't imagine what you'd need missile-proof glass and four thousand pounds of body armor for around here. Must be headed somewhere more hazardous."
Body armor. Four thousand pounds of body armor. And missle-proof glass? Nice. What had happened to good old-fashioned bulletproof? ~ Stephenie Meyer

Analysts, scholars, business people, diplomats, and journalists involved with China spend so much time questioning one another's biases and loyalties that they have even settled on two opposing categories: 'panda huggers' versus 'panda sluggers.' ~ Evan Osnos

But people misunderstand warfare and think it is an end unto itself. But on the international stage, war is nothing more than another tool of diplomacy. If your country doesn't have a credible, powerful military force capable of bringing pain, death, and destruction to an enemy, then your diplomats can't get much done, because you simply aren't powerful - there's no threat of pain they can wield. That's why the western Pacific island nation of Nauru doesn't have a seat on the UN Security Council. Not recognizing this principle is shortsighted (no disrespect intended to the fine people of Nauru). ~ Jamie Smith

They tend to be civil servants, often diplomats drawn from the Foreign Office, who may be very pleasant, intelligent people, but once they get inside the Palace they're riveted to the status quo and they lose track of public opinion in the real world. ~ Anthony Holden

For most of their history in China, Pugs were treasured dogs. By law, they could only be owned by nobility or by Buddhist monks. However, because they were held in such high regard, they were also used as pawns in international relations. In 732 C.E., China gave a Pug to Japan as a gift to cement diplomatic relations. The Japanese became infatuated with this dog, and it became the first of many given to Japanese diplomats. ~ Liz Palika

Timing: The alpha and omega of aerialists, jugglers, actors, diplomats, publicists, generals, prizefighters, revolutionists, financiers, dictators, lovers. ~ Marlene Dietrich

I'd like to think the best bunker buster is a diplomat. ~ Scott Ritter

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

While there might be some people who were natural diplomats, she wasn't one of them. She was forever butting heads with people, challenging them when she should have been convincing them, raising hackles where she should have been raising support. She had always been in a hurry, without always knowing where she wanted to go; she was too impatient to wait for the right time or the right confluence of events. ~ Robert Masello

[After college] I was going to study at the Sorbon and become a diplomat. Being a diplomat comes in handy when you are dealing with record companies. ~ Gloria Estefan

My biggest, you know, regret is what happened in Benghazi. It was a terrible tragedy losing four Americans - two diplomats and, now it's public so I can say, two CIA operatives. ~ Hillary Clinton

This Levantine spirit developed gradually in Beirut after the Industrial Revolution, as the burgeoning Lebanese silk trade and the invention of the steamboat combined to bring men and women of America and Western Europe in large numbers to the Levant. These settlers from the West were Catholic and Protestant missionaries, diplomats, and merchants, Jewish traders, travelers and physicians; and they brought with them Western commerce, manners, and ideas and, most of all, a certain genteel, open, tolerant attitude toward life and toward other cultures. Their mores and manners were gradually imitated by elite elements of the local native populations, who made a highly intelligent blend of these Western ideas with their own indigenous Arabic, Greek, and Turkish cultures, which had their own traditions of tolerance. "To be a Levantine," wrote Hourani, "is to live in two worlds or more at once, without belonging to either." In ~ Thomas L. Friedman

Mexican writer and diplomat, "Pasado en claro" ("A Draft of Shadows") You learn something the day you die. You learn how to die. ~ Katherine Anne Porter

Like all diplomats, Walter hated it when monarchs talked directly to each other, instead of through their ministers. Anything could happen then. ~ Ken Follett

Army: A body of men assembled to rectify the mistakes of the diplomats. ~ Josephus Daniels

How is the world ruled and how do wars start? Diplomats tell lies to journalists and then believe what they read. ~ Karl Kraus

Once war was considered the business of soldiers, international relations the concern of diplomats. But now that war has become seemingly total and seemingly permanent, the free sport of kings has become the forced and internecine business of people, and diplomatic codes of honor between nations have collapsed. Peace in no longer serious; only war is serious. Every man and every nation is either friend or foe, and the idea of enmity becomes mechanical, massive, and without genuine passion. When virtually all negotiation aimed at peaceful agreement is likely to be seen as 'appeasement,' if not treason, the active role of the diplomat becomes meaningless; for diplomacy becomes merely a prelude to war an interlude between wars, and in such a context the diplomat is replaced by the warlord. ~ C. Wright Mills

My first jam was at Hotel Diplomat opening for Hollywood. ~ Kurtis Blow

Are you also a professional soldier?
He grinned. "I'm more of a gentleman of adventure."
George laughed under his breath.
"I save these two from themselves," Gaston continued. "Occasionally I do a bit of skullduggery."
What? "Skullduggery?"
"Scale a ten-foot wall, jump out of the shadows, break a diplomat's neck, plant false documents on his body, and prevent an international incident type of thing to keep the war from breaking out," Gaston said helpfully. "Dreadful stuff, but quite necessary. ~ Ilona Andrews

Show me one Iranian diplomat we killed! I can show you many Saudi diplomats who were killed by Iran. ~ Adel Al-Jubeir

Build your house on granite. By granite I mean your nature that you are torturing to death, the love in your child's body, your wife's dream of love, your own dream of life when you were sixteen. Exchange your illusions for a bit of truth. Throw out your politicians and diplomats! Take your destiny into your own hands and build your life on rock. Forget about your neighbor and look inside yourself! Your neighbor, too, will be grateful. Tell you're fellow workers all over the world that you're no longer willing to work for death but only for life. Instead of flocking to executions and shouting hurrah, hurrah, make a law for the protection of human life and its blessings. Such a law will be part of the granite foundation your house rests on. Protect your small children's love against the assaults of lascivious, frustrated men and women. Stop the mouth of the malignant old maid; expose her publicly or send her to a reform school instead of young people who are longing for love. Don;t try to outdo your exploiter in exploitation if you have a chance to become a boss. Throw away your swallowtails and top hat, and stop applying for a license to embrace your woman. Join forces with your kind in all countries; they are like you, for better or worse. Let your child grow up as nature (or 'God') intended. Don't try to improve on nature. Learn to understand it and protect it. Go to the library instead of the prize fight, go to foreign countries rather than to Coney Island. And first and f ~ Wilhelm Reich

Wherever the family was, these two dogs, both six-year-old shepherd mixes, took up their posts at the central coming-and-going point. Gil called them concierge dogs. And it's true, they were inquisitive and accommodating. But they were not fawning or overly playful. They were watchful and thoughtful. Irene thought they had gravitas. Weighty demeanors. She thought of them as diplomats. She had noticed that when Gil was about to lose his temper one of the dogs always appeared and did something to divert his attention. Sometimes they acted like fools, but it was brilliant acting. Once, when he was furious about a bill for the late fees for a lost video, one of the dogs had walked right up to Gil and lifted his leg over his shoe. Gil was shouting at Florian when the piss splattered down, and she'd felt a sudden jolt of pride in the dog. ~ Louise Erdrich

Ah, these diplomats! What chatterboxes! There's only one way to shut them up - cut them down with machine guns. Bulganin, go and get me one! ~ Joseph Stalin

I have to be as much diplomat as a photographer. ~ Alfred Eisenstaedt

Usually at summit conferences, the real work is done in advance by diplomats and specialists on each side who, based on guidance from their superiors, do the spadework and work out any agreements that are to be signed at the meeting, after which the top leaders come in and preside over the formalities. ~ Ronald Reagan

Music has a role, fashion has a role, cinema has a role, intellectuals have a role, parliamentarians, politicians, diplomats
all of it. ~ Riyad Mansour

I have been a foreigner all my life, first as a daughter of diplomats, then as a political refugee and now as an immigrant in the U.S. I have had to leave everything behind and start anew several times, and I have lost most of my extended family. ~ Isabel Allende

Among the handful of British diplomats and military men aware of their government's secret policy in the Middle East-that the Arabs were being encouraged to fight and die on the strength of promises that had already been traded away-were many who regarded that policy as utterly shameful, an affront to British dignity. ~ Scott Anderson

I am a soldier and accustomed to risking my life every day. I am full of the fire of youth; I cannot act with the restraint of an accomplished diplomat. ~ Napoleon Bonaparte

If all the diplomats were kicked out, the UN could be turned into the finest bordello in the world and do just as much, if not more, for international harmony. ~ F. Paul Wilson

When we put our trust in diplomacy, it is not because it is an inspiring or uplifting discourse or because it helps us see the common humanity in others. The stylized circumlocutions of diplomats can make them seem ridiculous or irrelevant: they never seem to be talking about what is really going on. ~ Noah Feldman

An ambassador has no need of spies; his character is always sacred. ~ George Washington

It is easy to overlook the importance of the young in underdeveloped countries. It is the natural course for nations, and diplomats, and those who publish newspapers, to speak to the established order. Seeking out the young requires a conscious effort. ~ Robert Kennedy

My father was a diplomatic officer. As a diplomat's daughter, you have to learn to present yourself very early on. ~ Kathleen Turner

Let's make a deal with the Serbs. Neither history nor emotion in the Balkans will permit multinationalism. We have to give up on the illusion of the last eight years ... Dayton isn't working. Nobody - except diplomats and petty officials - believes in a sovereign Bosnia and the Dayton accords. ~ Franjo Tudjman

Diplomats do not know how to negotiate, they only know how to keep their job. ~ Donald Trump

Today's announcement projects a picture of profound weakness in U.S. diplomacy. It should not have been a heavy lift for our diplomats in New York and in foreign capitals to recruit the necessary 96 affirmative votes to seat the United States in the new council. ~ Tom Lantos

A spoonful of sugar can be as helpful in dealing with foreign diplomats as it is in child psychology, for these are not unrelated fields. ~ Madeleine K. Albright

People also don't care about the daily comings and goings of diplomats and yet we must report it. ~ Roone Arledge

Once the Xerox copier was invented, diplomacy died. ~ Andrew Young

Diplomats lie with a heavy sense of destiny. ~ Mason Cooley

Diplomacy, n.: The patriotic art of lying for one's country. ~ Ambrose Bierce

What is there more real, for instance, in our universe than a man's life, and how can we hope to preserve it better than a realistic film? But under what conditions is such a film possible? Under purely imaginary conditions. We should have to presuppose, in fact, an ideal camera focused on the man day and night and constantly registering his every move. The very projection of such a film would last a lifetime and could be seen only by an audience of people willing to waste their lives in watching someone else's life in great detail. Even under such conditions, such an unimaginable film would not be realistic for the simple reason that the reality of a man's life is not limited to the spot in which he happens to be. It lies also in other lives that give shape to his--lives of people he loves, to begin with, which would have to be filmed too, and also lives of unknown people, influential and insignificant, fellow citizens, policemen, professors, invisible comrades from the mines and foundries, diplomats and dictators, religious reformers, artists who create myths that are decisive for out conduct--humble representatives, in short, of the sovereign chance that dominates the most routine existences. Consequently, there is but one possible realistic film: one that is constantly shown us by an invisible camera on the world's screen. The only realistic artist, then, is God, if he exists. All other artists are, ipso facto, unfaithful to reality. ~ Albert Camus

Given that the doubtless unsuspecting taxpayers of South Africa provided every diplomat abroad with free housing, a foreign service allowance (in addition to salary) and, in the case of ambassadors, two full-time, live-in domestics, it became apparent why many found such a feather-bedded life abroad so appealing". ~ Tony Leon

I'm convinced there's a small room in the attic of the Foreign Office where future diplomats are taught to stammer. ~ Peter Ustinov

It's interesting that there are only two groups of people in our country who are not held accountable for their behavior or decisions. One is exempted by the constitution, and that is foreign diplomats. The other, through a loophole, is HMOs. ~ Debbie Stabenow

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.

The more both sides follow the example of those intrepid early diplomats to bridge the gaps in understanding and interests, the better chance we will have of making progress. ~ Hillary Rodham Clinton

Diplomats negotiate. That's what I do on my show. So I consider myself a diplomat in showbiz. ~ Woody Milintachinda

The symbolic significance of individual athletes' achievements has sometimes proved more productive than the negotiations of diplomats or politicians. ~ Richard Attias

Diplomats were invented simply to waste time. ~ David Lloyd George

After the revolution of 1979, Iran embarked on a policy of sectarianism. Iran began a policy of expanding its revolution, of interfering with the affairs of its neighbors, a policy of assassinating diplomats and of attacking embassies. Iran is responsible for a number of terrorist attacks in the Kingdom, it is responsible for smuggling explosives and drugs into Saudi Arabia. And Iran is responsible for setting up sectarian militias in Iraq, Pakistan, Afghanistan and Yemen, whose objective is to destabilize those countries. ~ Adel Al-Jubeir

Born Berlin 1931, Germany, father a British diplomat, mother an American artist. Educated at various schools all over the world. 1958 Settled down to live in London. 1966 Became interested in photography through photographing my young children. No formal training. ~ Fay Godwin

It's a necessary quality of a diplomat or a politician that he will compromise. Uncompromising politicians or diplomats get you into the most terrible trouble. ~ John Keegan

Amazing what the British do with language; the nuances of politeness. The world's great diplomats, surely. ~ Anne Rice

The war is not going well and it is time to say why ... It has been fought with half-measures. It has been fought with an eye on the wishes of our 'coalition partners.' It has been fought to assuage the Arab 'street.' It has been fought to satisfy the diplomats rather than the generals ... why have we not loosed the B-52s and the B-2s to carpet-bomb Taliban positions? And why are we giving the Taliban sanctuary in their cities? We could drop leaflets giving civilians 48 hours to evacuate, after which the cities become legitimate military targets. ~ Charles Krauthammer

No great monument has been built to honor those who served during the Cold War, who risked their lives and sometimes lost them in the name of freedom. It was ordinary men and women, not just diplomats and statesmen, who helped to avert a nuclear holocaust. Their courage and their sacrifices should be remembered. ~ Eric Schlosser

Moskin has brought together with care and lucidity an inside history of American diplomacy written through the eyes of the many diplomats who conceived and carried it out over 225 years. You experience the challenges, successes, and foibles. Over time, the Foreign Service evolved into a professional cadre serving the public and presidents, often at the peril of their lives. Anyone interested in understanding our diplomacy, what makes it tick, and how it strives to serve the public interest should read this masterful history. ~ Thomas R. Pickering

Many nights he lay there dreaming awake of secret cafés in Mont Marte, where ivory women delved in romantic mysteries with diplomats and soldiers of fortune, while orchestras played Hungarian waltzes and the air was thick and exotic with intrigue and moonlight and adventure. ~ F. Scott Fitzgerald

You're Piers Brandon, the Marquess of Granville, diplomat and secret agent in the Crown's service." She ran a fingertip down the noble slope of his nose. "And I'm Char - "
Her words were lost in a gasp.

With the speed and strength of a whip, he had her turned on her back, sprawled beneath him on the tufted carriage seat.
"You will be Lady Charlotte Brandon, the Marchioness of Granville, diplomat's wife and mother of my heir."
.......
"You'll be mine," he murmured. "I swear it, Charlotte. I will make you mine. ~ Tessa Dare

American diplomacy is easy on the brain but hell on the feet. ~ Charles G. Dawes

Of course there are collaborations. But in official meetings with Western diplomats from the US and the European Union, the major issues of our relationships are simply not discussed. The topics are on climate change or any other issues they want us to agree with them on. But they never discuss how we could develop an equal relationship. They should stop using pompous orchestrated summits and begin a serious dialogue with small meetings. ~ Yoweri Museveni

Diplomats willing to sit for an interview usually prefer the terra firma of CNN over the whoopee cushion of Comedy Central. ~ Kevin Bleyer

The Iraqi regime was supporting terrorist cells all over the world. We had to expel three Iraqi diplomats from the Philippines because of evidence that they were either in touch with Abu Sayyaf or doing their own espionage. ~ Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo

I am saying that I am trying to minimize the donations to these groups by talking to diplomats. The transparency bill also has the purpose of enabling the Israeli public and members of Knesset to know whose interests certain organizations represent. ~ Ayelet Shaked

Stefan wasn't sure if it had been watching them and realizing how deep Adrian and Madeleine's attachment ran, or if it was the fact he was already half in love with Adrian, but he found himself talking before he could stop himself.
"I know we've only known each other for a year or so, so it's not really my place to offer my opinions, and I have no concept of what it's like to be a Royal - the expectations, everything involved," he started, and Adrian looked up at him. "But my parents were Diplomats, and I did learn a few things from them about how to get what you want."
"Yes?" Adrian asked guardedly.
"I've been to many courts, and seen many Lord's daughters. None of them are like Madeleine. No, wait, I'm not insulting her," he added quickly as Adrian opened his mouth to speak. "What I'm saying is, those girls are being groomed for the traditional roles your father intimated she was to take when she's older. Now you find out what she really wants - at least at nine years old - to be a Healer and to marry who she wants to. She wants the independence she sees we have."
"Brion's marriage was arranged when he was thirteen," Adrian told him. "He seems happy enough, and so does Gwyne, for that matter, but she'd been preparing to be his wife since she was - since she was younger than Maddy."
"But the rest of you haven't been," Stefan pointed out, and Adrian nodded in agreement. "One of the basic ideas I grew up with was compromise, giving up just enough to m ~ Wendy Clements

Watching it all, I had a panic attack.
Holy shit! Most of the Thirld World sees America through the actions of backpackers. They're our diplomats in places like this. Our grungy kissingers. These folks must think we're all drawstring pant-wearing, Hacky-Sacking, white Rasta freaks. We're doomed. ~ Franz Wisner

Can you imagine a writer in England influencing? Absolutely not. And in France? It used to be, but no more-absolutely not. France used to, at least, have writers as diplomats, but not any more. ~ Nadine Gordimer

The Vatican has always had a core of diplomats for centuries. It has ambassadors in 180 countries and always played a kind of behind-the-scene role in many world issues. ~ Sylvia Poggioli

Originally I wanted to be a diplomat, and by attrition I started giving up that idea. ~ John Gimlette

American diplomats had been slow to understand the scope of the change being driven by Chinese migration to Africa. The phenomenon had been flagged in State Department cables as early as 2005, with diplomats identifying the budding, large-scale movement of people from China to Africa as part of a campaign to expand Beijing's political influence and simultaneously advance China's business interests and overall clout. These early, classified warnings also spoke of the spread, via emigration, of Chinese organized crime, particularly in smuggling and human trafficking. For the most part, however, it seemed that American diplomats were still in search of the right voice, the right message. All too often, Washington struck a paternalistic tone that came across as: Listen up children, you must be careful about these tricky Chinese. ~ Howard W. French

There are no innocents in Gaza, don't let any diplomats who want to look good in the world endanger your lives - mow them down! ~ Michael Ben-Ari

I started acting long before I decided to pursue it. I started acting as an amateur when I was a kid, but I wanted to become a diplomat. It was self-centered and weird, but I had this idea of going out in the world and solving conflicts and making the world a better place. ~ Stellan Skarsgard

The [Carter] administration doesn't know the difference between a diplomat and a doormat. ~ Ronald Reagan

He had undoubtedly not availed himself of the ministry archives, archives that might have revealed to him that Iranian diplomats in Paris, from this, his own Foreign Ministry, had taken it upon themselves to issue Iranian passports to Jews escaping the very Holocaust they were aware of, but that he now denied. ~ Hooman Majd

Liberals and international diplomats (a distinction without a difference) have notorious difficulty understanding how to deal with totalitarian regimes. ~ Mona Charen

Having wallowed in a delightful orgy of anti-French sentiment, having deplored and applauded the villains themselves, having relished the foibles of bankers, railwaymen, diplomats, and police, the public was now ready to see its faith restored in the basic soundness of banks, railroads, government, and police. ~ Michael Crichton

Journalists couldn't do their jobs overseas without taking risks, and the same is true for diplomats and intelligence officers. ~ David Ignatius

In the end, the work of diplomats continues even while others fight. So, it's not necessarily true that everyone needs to march. ~ David Brin

I have discovered the art of deceiving diplomats. I tell them the truth and they never believe me. ~ Camillo Di Cavour

A Duke couldn't have the arse hanging out of his trousers when meeting foreign diplomats. Actually even plain old Sam Vimes never had the arse hanging out of his trousers, either, but no one would have actually started a war if he had. ~ Terry Pratchett

I have so much respect for policy makers and diplomats, but I could never be a politician because of the way they dress! ~ Azita Ghanizada

There are three species of creatures who when they seem coming are going, when they seem going they come: diplomats, women, and crabs. ~ John Hay

Journalists are in the same madly rocking boat as diplomats and statesmen. Like them, when the Cold War ended, they looked for a new world order and found a new world disorder. If making and conducting foreign policy in today's turbulent environment is difficult, so is practicing journalism. ~ Henry Grunwald