193 Quotes About Diplomacy

Auch wenn zwei Staaten in Deutschland existieren, sind sie doch füreinander nicht Ausland; ihre Beziehungen zueinander können nur von besonderer Art sein."("Even though two states in Germany exist, they are not foreign countries to each other—their relations with each other can only be of a special kind.")First Inaugural Address as West German Chancellor, October 28, 1969

Diplomacy is not a veiling of the truth. It is the ability to be sensitive to the truth.

Now is not the time to look at the past. Lets look forward to the future.Diplomats know very well that these are standard slogans for those who are engaged in serious crimes.

An ambassador’, quipped Sir Henry Wootton, ‘is an honest man sent to lie abroad for the good of his country.

Wir wollen ein Volk der guten Nachbarn sein und werden, im Innern und nach außen.“("We as a people want to be and become good neighbors, both domestically and abroad.")First Inaugural Address as West German Chancellor, October 28, 1969

The art of diplomacy is often to tell someone you want to be their best friend, but failing that, you might have to destroy them. It’s kind of like Christianity. Congressman Lance Boyd.

We're instant ambassadors. Just add robot body and voila! If they'd told us anything real, they might have had to kill us.

At one end of the national spectrum is white, shining peace—that city-on-a-hill concept. At the other end is black, raging, savage war at the foot of that hill. The space between is the gray zone where the haze of diplomacy and combat meet and bleed into one another. That’s where the CIA works.

It is a principle of diplomacy that one must know something of the truth in order to lie convincingly.