Shimon Peres Quotes

If we can’t agree on the facts, how can we agree on the solutions?

During the 1996 Forum election my election agent, John Dobson, told me that at some stage down the line we were going to have to talk to the IRA and that I was the man to do it. And my reaction was not printable!

Compromise has a negative connotation.

We extend our hand towards peace. Our people are committed to peace. We know that peace entails painful compromise for both sides.

I'm going to work with Republicans when they do things I agree with and I'm going to fight Republicans when they're doing things that I think are damaging.

A more significant phase should mean serious political dialogue.

I believe any time that both parties are talking, it's a good thing.

We can not go back to a situation where we are cozy with the separatists.

There are universal traits and aspects of all these conflicts, and I think that all of them have bridgeable solutions. The only question is whether you are ready to take the challenge, to pay the price, to compromise in order to get more. This, I believe, is the challenge for all the peacemakers in the world.

There will always be somebody opposed to the peace process. The important thing is not to let those people seize the political agenda.

The two parties should be turning to each other rather than on each other.

Having three kids at home is sometimes like dealing with Democrats and Republicans when you're choosing a restaurant.

I'm not an 'opponent.' I don't believe I should be treated as an opponent.

The negotiations must address all aspects, both peace and withdrawal.

I must have dialogue with the Chinese government, and dialogue requires compromise. Therefore, I'm speaking for genuine self-rule, not for independence.

If you don’t intend having a compromise, you don’t negotiate at all.

If you want to bring an end to long-standing conflict, you have to be prepared to compromise. If either or both sides insist on getting everything that they want - that is to say 100 percent of their demands to be met, then there can never be a settlement.

Engagement is not appeasement. Engagement is not surrender.

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.

But you've got to understand what the other guy is about, even if at the end of the process you decide that there is no ground with this man or woman except to fight them.

Trying to negotiate getting a couple of kids to watch the same TV show requires serious diplomacy.

Look, not everybody plays well with each other on the playground. I get that, that's politics.

You can't end negotiations unless you begin them. And you can't begin them if you continually negotiate about the terms to begin negotiations.

We all agree on the necessity of compromise. We just can't agree on when it's necessary to compromise.

We have to find compromises. That's the way it is in Norway.