Diplomats are useful only in fair weather. As soon as it rains they drown in every drop.
—Charles de Gaulle (1890–1970) French General, Statesman
Be polite; write diplomatically; even in a declaration of war one observes the rules of politeness.
—Otto von Bismarck (1815–98) German Chancellor, Prime Minister
The principle of give and take is the principle of diplomacy – give one and take ten
—Mark Twain (1835–1910) American Humorist
A diplomat is a man who always remembers a woman’s birthday but never remembers her age.
—Robert Frost (1874–1963) American Poet
A Foreign Secretary and this applies also to a prospective Foreign Secretary is always faced with this cruel dilemma. Nothing he can say can do very much good, and almost anything he may say may do a great deal of harm. Anything he says that is not obvious is dangerous; whatever is not trite is risky. He is forever poised between the cliche and the indiscretion.
—Harold Macmillan (1894–1986) British Head of State
The ability to deal with people is as purchasable a commodity as sugar or coffee and I will pay more for that ability than for any other under the sun.
—John D. Rockefeller (1839-1937) American Oil Magnate, Philanthropist
When envoys are sent with compliments in their mouths, it is a sign that the enemy wishes for a truce.
—Sun Tzu (fl. c.544–496 BCE) Chinese General, Military Theorist
If there is no struggle there is no progress. Those who profess to favor freedom and yet deprecate agitation, are men who want crops without plowing up the ground, they want rain without thunder and lightning. They want the ocean without the awful roar of its many waters. This struggle may be a moral one, or it may be a physical one, and it may be both moral and physical, but it must be a struggle. Power concedes nothing without a demand. It never did and it never will.
—Frederick Douglass (1817–95) American Abolitionist, Author, Editor, Diplomat, Political leader
Diplomats are just as essential to starting a war as soldiers are to finishing it. You take Diplomacy out of war and the thing would fall flat in a week.
—Will Rogers (1879–1935) American Actor, Rancher, Humorist
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.
—Ambrose Bierce (1842–1913) American Short-story Writer, Journalist
My advice to any diplomat who wants to have a good press is to have two or three kids and a dog.
—Carl Rowan (1925–2000) American Public Servant, Journalist, Author, Columnist
ULTIMATUM, n. In diplomacy, a last demand before resorting to concessions.
—Ambrose Bierce (1842–1913) American Short-story Writer, Journalist
An ambassador is not simply an agent; he is also a spectacle.
—Walter Bagehot (1826–77) English Economist, Journalist
There are a few ironclad rules of diplomacy but to one there is no exception. When an official reports that talks were useful, it can safely be concluded that nothing was accomplished.
—John Kenneth Galbraith (1908–2006) Canadian-Born American Economist
There is, in world affairs, a steady course to be followed between an assertion of strength that is truculent and a confession of helplessness that is cowardly.
—Dwight D. Eisenhower (1890–1969) American Head of State, Military Leader
To say nothing, especially when speaking, is half the art of diplomacy.
—William C. Durant (1861–1947) American Industrialist
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.
—George Eliot (Mary Anne Evans) (1819–80) English Novelist
DIPLOMACY, n. Lying in state, or the patriotic art of lying for one’s country.
—Ambrose Bierce (1842–1913) American Short-story Writer, Journalist
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 (1898-1963) Irish-born British Academic, Author, Literary Scholar
When a diplomat says yes he means perhaps; when he says perhaps he means no; when he says no he is no diplomat.
—Anonymous
A diplomat’s life is made up of three ingredients: Protocol, Geritol, and alcohol.
—Adlai Stevenson (1900–65) American Diplomat, Politician, Orator
Diplomacy – The art of letting other people achieve your ends
—Indian Proverb
Diplomacy: The business of handling a porcupine without disturbing the quills.
—Unknown
Diplomacy is thinking twice before saying nothing.
—Unknown
A distinguished diplomat could hold his tongue in ten languages.
—Unknown
Diplomats were invented simply to waste time.
—David Lloyd George (1863–1945) British Liberal Statesman
We have no commission from God to police the world.
—Benjamin Harrison (1833–1901) American Political leader, Politician, Lawyer
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.
—Caskie Stinnett (1911–98) American Travel Writer, Humorist
Consul. In American politics, a person who having failed to secure an office from the people is given one by the Administration on condition that he leave the country.
—Ambrose Bierce (1842–1913) American Short-story Writer, Journalist
Diplomacy is a disguised war, in which states seek to gain by barter and intrigue, by the cleverness of arts, the objectives which they would have to gain more clumsily by means of war.
—Randolph Bourne (1886–1918) American Writer, Scholar