Letitia Baldrige Quotes

As social secretary, I was responsible for putting together all the events that the President and the First Lady host.

The state dinner is almost a formula, but you try to make it interesting. You try not to overload it with too many political types. You try to get a cross section.

A lot of business can be accomplished in the state dinners.

I love dress shopping, and I love talking about the wedding food. That's what makes me happy. If you tell me to do a guest list, I cry. I hate it.

You think that the heads of state only have serious conversations, but they actually often begin really with the weather or, 'I really like your tie.'

I think the time of the formal dinners is over.

Vicars, MPS and lawyers were amont those who considered me to be the best hostess in London.

My father was a diplomatic officer. As a diplomat's daughter, you have to learn to present yourself very early on.

You can't have someone with a pinkie out there at the U.N. or any other place.

I have been in meetings where a head of state will say, 'I like your tie,' to a man... or, 'I like your country because the weather's good,' or whatever. So for me, the pins in some ways were openers.

It is not polite for a Russian to interfere in British politics.

The formal Washington dinner party has all the spontaneity of a Japanese imperial funeral.

I am not accustomed to protocol.

In the music world, concerts unfold strictly according to plan. But, as I'd been finding out, in the book world, things keep changing by the second.

The most important thing for having a party is that the hostess is having fun. I'm very organized. I make a plan for absolutely everything. I never have anything that has to be cooked while the guests are there. The only thing I might have to do is take something out of the oven and carve it.

I shake hands very gladly politically. I don't think you could be a politician if you didn't shake hands.

Be polite; write diplomatically; even in a declaration of war one observes the rules of politeness.

I'm not actually a very keen performer. I like putting shows together. I like putting events together. In fact, everything I do is about the conceptualizing and realization of a piece of work, whether it's the recording or the performance side.

Here’s a little Washington clue. When they say, “With all due respect,” they’re about to insult you.

Be polite. Write diplomatically. Even in a declaration of war one observes the rules of politeness.

We must not confuse protocol with principle.

Protocol is everything.

It is impolite to criticize your host; it is militarily stupid to criticize your allies.

The etiquette question has become of so much importance as to be an object of state.

A diplomat these days is nothing but a head-waiter who's allowed to sit down occasionally.