Richard Holbrooke Quotes

No two men ever devised plans of action to accomplish a particular object without finding that there were differences in their plans. That is peculiarly the case in international affairs.

Diplomacy is the art of saying 'Nice doggie' until you can find a rock.

I don't think that anybody should be ruling in or ruling out anything while we are conducting diplomacy.

It would be a foolish high representative who worked that way.

Diplomacy is the art of saying “Nice Doggie!” till you can find a rock.

The art of diplomacy is to take your humiliations in private.

Negotiations are the most essential tool of statecraft.

You aren't going to be successful as a diplomat if you don't understand the strategic context in which you are actually negotiating. It is not deal making. It's not.

I believe in much more diplomacy, not less.

There is nothing fast or easy about diplomacy. I have no illusions about that.

Everybody's still talking about diplomacy and I'm very hopeful that as long as we talk about diplomacy, as long as we're not talking about enforcement measures, sanctions, et cetera, we are on the right track. But we need to accelerate the process.

I have always said that a conference was held for one reason only, to give everybody a chance to get sore at everybody else. Sometimes it takes two or three conferences to scare up a war, but generally one will do it.

History offers examples of winning in diplomacy after losing in war.

You learn, just as you learn good manners, how to approach things with a certain amount of diplomacy.

Negotiating in the classic diplomatic sense assumes parties more anxious to agree than to disagree.

I'm simply saying that there are advantages in sending a skilled diplomat who can always say, 'I'll get back to you on that, Mr. Minister'.

We always have hoped that American diplomacy deploys itself in dialogue and persuasion rather than by ultimatums. That is the path we want in international relations.

Nobody's ever said that pins are a tool of diplomacy.

Someone needs to talk sense to the president. But these people are not world travelers. This president, much as I like him, had all the opportunities in the world.

Modern diplomats approach every problem with an open mouth.

The failure of the United Nations - My failure is maybe, in retrospective, that I was not enough aggressive with the members of the Security Council.

My diplomatic position will not consist of going and kneeling down in front of George Bush.

War is failure of diplomacy.

Naturally our Government would not consent to such terms, and so the war had to proceed.

Every diplomatic breakthrough is preceded by a crisis, but not every crisis leads to a breakthrough.