Quotes About Tact

So be sure when you step, Step with care and great tact. And remember that life's A Great Balancing Act. And will you succeed? Yes! You will, indeed! (98 and ¾ percent guaranteed) Kid, you'll move mountains.

THE FOLLOWING DAY, Wednesday, Hendricks telephoned acceptance, and on Friday afternoon Roosevelt joyfully released news of the nomination to the press. Privately, to his old Assembly colleague Henry L. Sprague, he wrote: "I have always been fond of the West African proverb: 'Speak softly and carry a big stick; you will go far.' Ã¢â'¬Â28

In any case, I hadn't gone into the subject of dorm living too deeply with him, not because I hesitated to probe his tender spots but because I would have been probing my own. This is called tact, and is reputed to be a virtue.

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.

To speak ill of others is a dishonest way of praising ourselves. Nothing is often a good thing to say, and always a clever thing to say.

Diplomacy, n. is the art of letting somebody else have your way.

There are times when you need to pitch a fit and other times when you need to apply Catholic guilt, and it's just figuring out which is the most appropriate approach and then implementing it.

I always try to be optimistic, but not to the point where I'm getting on people's nerves.

I don't want to comment on other film stars.

You have to avoid what I call the 'smartest boy in class syndrome,' which is, just because you know it, you don't have to tell it. I often will go through a manuscript crossing stuff out, and say, 'This is just too much,' you know?

It strikes me, sir, that you are nearing the point where even a grateful American might tell you to go to the devil.-Nero Wolfe to an FBI Agent

Frankness is not a license to say anything you want, wherever and whenever you want. It is not rudeness.

You are never persuasive when you're abrasive.

Any fool can get into a fight, but a wise man knows how to stay out of them.

You never win a vote by proving the constituent a fool. Be charming, be modest, and don't lose your temper.

If a person has no delicacy, he has you in his power.

In the battle of existence, Talent is the punch; Tact is the clever footwork

I think "No comment" is a splendid expression. I am using it again and again. I got it from Sumner Welles.

Tact is the ability to tell someone to go to hell in such a way that they look forward to the trip.

But as Lindbergh's friend former president Herbert Hoover instructed, "When you had been in politics long enough, you learned not to say things just because they are true."21

Diplomacy: The art of saying "nice doggie" until you can find a rock.

Other people's sex lives are a little like other people's holidays: you're glad that they had fun but you weren't there and don't necessarily want to see the photos.

Tact is an ability to live in the midst of ugliness without getting ugly.

Discretion is a synonym for intelligence.