Bo Bennett Quotes

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

A diplomat is a man who thinks twice before he says nothing.

To say nothing, especially when speaking, is half the art of diplomacy.

In the world of diplomacy, some things are better left unsaid.

Diplomats were invented simply to waste time.

Well, the thing that I learned as a diplomat is that human relations ultimately make a huge difference.

The limits of diplomacy must be acknowledged.

In addition to impartiality and honesty, people engaged in good offices must have the gift of good timing and a flawless sense of balance.

Diplomacy takes time.

Difficulties melt away under tact.

There is no diplomacy like silence.

If it requires great tact to speak to the purpose, it requires no less to know when to be silent.

Knowing when to speak up and when to shut up will get you very far not only in business, but in life.

Knowing when to keep your mouth shut is invariably more important than opening it at the right time.

It's not so much knowing when to speak, when to pause.

Diplomacy is to do and say the nastiest things in the nicest way.

There is a time to speak and a time to listen, and sometimes people need to shut up.

It is tact that is golden, not silence.

Tact is the art of making a point without making an enemy.

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

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

Silence and tact may or may not be the same thing.

I can do the PR thing until the cows come home. That's my nature. I never want to upset anybody.

These, then, are the qualities of my ideal diplomatist. Truth, accuracy, calm, patience, good temper, modesty and loyalty. They are also the qualities of an ideal diplomacy. But, the reader may object, you have forgotten intelligence, knowledge, discernment, prudence, hospitality, charm, industry, courage and even tact. I have not forgotten them. I have taken them for granted.

When diplomats meet, they are, of necessity, ambiguous, in order to get an agreement.