Michael Arad Quotes

Negotiations take time.

I would love nothing more than compromise. But I would say to you that compromise that's not a solution is a waste of time.

We should not mislead the Iraqis into thinking they have unlimited time to reach a settlement. The longer they think that, the less likely they will be to act.

We're all negotiators.

I don't like a tremendous amount of conflict. I don't think that fighting and passion are the same thing.

Talks are not the same thing as agreements.

One problem can stop a whole agreement.

When men understand what each other mean, they see for the most part, that controversy is either superfluous or hopeless.

You can never get two members of the family to agree on anything.

When you show no willingness to compromise, then nothing ever happens.

No system can guard against turmoil in the case of a tie. And this is a tie.

If talk is impossible, then war is inevitable.

Jaw-jaw is better than war-war.

Borders most often result from wars or peace treaties that end wars.

No one is served by continued uncertainty and fractious debate.

The term negotiation implies compromise; painful concessions on the part of both parties.

We are making remarkable progress toward an agreement—and toward a nervous breakdown. It's going to be a race to see which we achieve first.

It was a remarkably reasonable compromise. It pleased nobody, but everybody signed on.

We find few disputes, that are not founded on some ambiguity in the expression [thereof].

Conflicts have to be resolved. That is the responsibility of leadership. And globalization is the biggest conflict today.

If we can’t even agree on the facts, it will be very difficult for us to lock arms and deal with these problems.

Ultimately, peace depends on compromise.

Projectile: The final arbiter in international disputes …

One should not maintain a dispute.

Diplomacy takes time.