Donald McHenry Quotes

I'm a compromiser and a maneuverer. I try to get something. That's the way our system works.

It's a necessary quality of a diplomat or a politician that he will compromise. Uncompromising politicians or diplomats get you into the most terrible trouble.

Sometimes a little compromise isn't a bad thing. You don't need to be precious about it.

I will deal with the politicians in a political way and with the nonpoliticians in a nonpolitical way.

I shall argue that strong men, conversely, know when to compromise and that all principles can be compromised to serve a greater principle.

Fight as hard as you can, and then understand there's going to have to be some amount of reasonable compromise.

In politics, you must let the other person have your way.

I've learned that in order to achieve what I wanted, it made more sense to negotiate than to defend the autonomy of my work by pounding my fist on the table.

Jaw jaw is better than war war.

The secret of America is compromise. Compromise is a sign of weakness in any other country. In America it is a great strength.

No society ... can fail in time to explode if it is deprived of the arts of compromise .... No good society can be unprincipled and no viable society can be principle-ridden.

Negotiating is a little like jazz. You improvise on a theme. You know where you want to go, but you’re not always sure how to get there.

Jaw-jaw is better than war-war.

Strong men know when to compromise.

In any negotiation you have a wish list but then you proceed from where you can be.

In general ... I tell people not to bang their heads against the wall and to find a compromise.

Compromise is part of how we get things done.

I will go anywhere, anytime, to meet with anyone to find common ground.

Compromise is a skill, and like all skills it atrophies from lack of use.

There is nothing wrong with compromising. Even if you compromise almost everything.

It is not always possible to have everything go as one likes. In working with allies, it sometimes happens that they develop opinions of their own

I'm a great believer in compromises. I do not believe in capitulation.

I'm a great believer in compromise. I know it's not popular among young idealists. Compromise is not popular. It's not at all popular among young people who these days call themselves "activists." They think compromises are dishonest, opportunistic, humiliating. Not in my vocabulary. In my vocabulary, the word "compromise" is synonymous to the word "life".

An ability to compromise is important. That means stepping back and getting the ego out of the way in order to accomplish what you want to get done.

We want peace, but not at any price.