Quotes About Diplomacy

In politics, you must learn to say 'no' without offending people. That is an art that one must master: to satisfy a person even when you have to say 'no' to him.

Gentleness corrects whatever is offensive in our manner.

When members of this House use inflammatory language, use offensive language, it does not help the process. It is beneath the dignity of this body and this country.

Our American friends offer us money, arms, and advice. We take the money, we take the arms, and we decline the advice.

The United States has far more to offer the world than our bombs and missiles and our military technology.

I was a policy office in my final tour in the Navy, a Russian policy officer, and we were always thinking about our interactions and how they would affect the country 10, 20 years from now.

What is more important is that Foreign Service Officers understand business, about the needs of U.S. business and how to help U.S. companies make the right connections abroad.

The U.S. government engages with many countries around the world in official dialogues on human rights.

Huge numbers of embassy cables are labeled 'unclassified' or 'limited official use' and deal with mundane matters.

And I think when you're an elected official, rightly so, you should watch what you say.

The Cold War was over long before it was officially declared dead.

What frustrates U.S. officials is that China sometimes seems more comfortable accommodating a strong United States, as it did in past decades, than partnering with an America that's less dominant.

I do believe that it's very frequent that officials from foreign governments will meet with members of Congress. They will meet with folks associated with campaigns. That's not aberrational here in Washington.

I helped make Mexico, especially Tampico, safe for American oil interests in 1914. I helped make Haiti and Cuba a decent place for the National City Bank boys to collect revenues in.

If you could wean yourself off of oil and not be dependent on the Middle East, obviously it's better.

The Kashmir problem is a very old one and has been a major challenge for all governments.

On the contrary, I tried on numerous occasions to convince the American president not to go to war. I did what was within my capabilities to avoid that happening.

There is a certain amount of momentum that is achieved when one country after another reopens their borders.

What is the one country in the Middle East that has not been attacked by ISIS? One. That is Iran. That is more than happenstance, I'm sure.

It is not acceptable for one country to change the borders of another by force.

One of the things that we have to keep in mind on Iran is Iran is also a country with ballistic missiles, cyber capabilities.

I don't believe that one should have one-size-fits-all moral rules for international political action.

People online will tell you what they really think - there's no diplomacy. They're honest; it's good to have the feedback immediately.

Nuclear countries are those countries that are big and powerful. It is difficult to criticize them and try to lead them onto a humanitarian path. But we can only do what we can and appeal to their sense of reason.