Elizabeth I Quotes

Diplomacy is not an end in itself if it does not advance U.S. interests.

You can't go to a negotiating table pointing a gun, but you've got to keep it over your shoulder.

Diplomacy … means the art of nearly deceiving all your friends, but not quite deceiving all your enemies

Anyone who has ever negotiated an agreement knows that in order to get it, you have to be willing to walk away from the table..

If there are sound reasons or bases for the points you demand, then there is no need for violence. On the other hand, when there is no sound reason that concessions should be made to you but mainly your own desire, then reason cannot work and you have to rely on force. Thus using force is not a sign of strength but rather a sign of weakness.

China is ruthlessly pragmatic. It supports North Korea for its own selfish interests. And I believe that China no longer considers us an ally. The current president, Xi Jinping, cultivates close relations with South Korea. He has never met with me, the leader of North Korea, something that the leader of China has always done. At the grand celebrations in Beijing two years ago commemorating the 70th anniversary of the end of World War II, he placed the president of Russia and the president of South Korea at his side. In North Korea, we pay a lot of attention to ceremonies and what they signal.

We don't want to use our strength, but you have to have our strength.

Politics is a lot like sex - if you want something, you have to ask for it, if they're not doing it right you've got to speak up and show them and if you still don't get what you want, then there is nothing wrong with doing it yourself.

I'm an individual. I do not want to get into a pissing match with an organization that is a de-facto gigadollar-turnover multinational!

You get your freedom by letting your enemy know that you'll do anything to get it. Then you'll get it. It's the only way you'll get it.

I'm often at odds with my colleagues, but I've managed to get legislation passed which will not even be attempted in other states. Rather than use the word "cooperate," I'll say there's kind of a peaceful coexistence, a wary watching of each other. I'm very courteous and polite, and people allow me to be. Some people have applied the term charming to me. I don't use that term unless I'm the snake charmer and they're the snake.

You've seen President Trump act decisively when it comes to Syria. It didn't take him long to pull the trigger in regard to a response to the chemical attack. That's a decisive leader and that's who the G20 leaders saw in Hamburg, as someone who is decisive, someone who is not afraid, someone who doesn't kowtow, and stands up for himself when it comes to issues of disagreement like trade and the Paris agreement.

As secretary of state Hillary Clinton was rolled by everybody.

I've dealt with politicians my entire life. You never make a bad deal with a politician. They're so easy.

Treaties are observed as long as they are in harmony with interests.

You have to negotiate from positions of strength. And right now with Iran, we're not negotiating from a position of strength. The Europeans are negotiating from the position of "Please give up your nuclear weapons program, and by the way if you do we'll give you several boatloads of carrots." The Iranians are quite willing to keep on negotiating on that line for a long time.

I think to deal with Putin, you need to deal from strength. He's a bully, you enable bad behavior when you're nuanced with a guy like that.

That I was not dueling with the king, but trying to communicate with him, was itself an incommunicable fact.

Diplomacy can be a frustrating thing. I think the strategy can work, so long as the force is robust and the rules of engagement are clear.

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.

If America wants concessions, she must fight for them. We must purchase our power with our blood.

[On George H.W. Bush:] By 1990 I had learned that I had to defer to him in conversation and not to stint the praise. If that was what was necessary to secure Britain's interests and influence, I had no hesitation in eating a little humble pie.

The best way to have the last word is to apologize.

If you play a king, it's better if everybody treats you like a king.

The best deal that Barack Obama can get will not be the best deal to be had because he's weak and indecisive.