Quotes About Compromise

One of the challenges I think we have is people feel like the act of governance is a zero sum game. 'Whatever I get, you're not getting.' Changing that dynamic is going to be critically important for me as a leader, so that people don't feel they're pitted against each other.

In a world where global politics is no longer a zero-sum game, it is - or should be - counterintuitive to pursue one's interests without considering the interests of others.

I don't think that everything is a zero-sum game in which, when the president of the United States says something, that means that he is pro-Palestinian and anti-Israeli, or vice versa.

It's become a cliche to think of marriage as a disaster area and a war zone.

Journalists typically don't carry weapons, even in war zones, for fear of compromising their status as neutral observers. If you're armed, the theory goes, other armed people will consider you a target.

The minute you settle for less than you deserve, you get even less than you settled for.

There are some people that you cannot change, you must either swallow them whole or leave them alone.

No man can have society upon his own terms.

He who doesn't accept the conditions of life sells his soul.

Nothing ever gets settled in this town (Washington). It's not like running a company or even a university. It's a seething debating society, in which the debate never stops; in which people never give up, including me, and that's the atmosphere in which you administer.

In a true tragedy, both parties must be right.

We're eyeball to eyeball, and the other fellow just blinked.

I learned long ago never to wrestle with a pig. You get dirty, and besides, the pig likes it.

It takes two to make a bargain.

It's a bad bargain where nobody gains.

The best of a bad bargain.

Better is half a loaf than no bread.

Every man has his price.

Bargain: something you can't use at a price you can't resist.

Not necessarily conscription, but conscription if necessary.

The story of Canada is that if one meeting fails, you have another meeting.

If one sticks too rigidly to one's principles, one would hardly see anybody.

A camel is a horse designed by a committee.

He that rides his hobby gently must always give way to him that rides his hobby hard.