Jimmy Carter Quotes

The wound-tight, travel-light Obama has a distaste for the adversarial and the random. But if you stick too rigidly to a 'No Drama' rule in the White House, you risk keeping reality at bay. Presidencies are always about crisis management.

We don't want a president who fails at domestic and foreign policy.

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

We have generals working on worst-case scenarios; we need statesmen on best cases.

There is no area where experience matters more than in war and diplomacy.

When you're President you have to make a lot of tough decisions. You have to keep lining them up and making them.

I make an earnest appeal to those who hold responsible positions both in this country and abroad to weigh their words very carefully before they utter them on this matter, bearing in mind the consequences that may flow from some rash or thoughtless phrase. By exercising caution and patience and self-restraint we may yet be able to save the peace of Europe.

We don’t negotiate for hostages’ release.

Being a wartime President is never just about leading the war. It is also about leading a nation at war.

Like Lyndon Johnson, President Obama understands that timidity in a time of troubles is a prescription for failure.

Politics and war are remarkably similar situations.

I think George Mitchell is a consummate professional. He is the ideal selection to handle the job of special envoy if you choose to have a special envoy.

The important thing is that we recognize our President's leadership, that he is not saying: I am going to walk away from this. He is saying: I am going to do the right thing.

In the long term, Germany didn't need a finance minister who was absent during important negotiations in the European Council. But the chancellor strongly encouraged me to stay. And everything did work out for the best in the end.

The world cannot be governed without juggling.

A prime minister has to keep a certain balance when dealing with sensitive issues.

The president of the United States actually has to be able to walk and chew gum at the same time.

A president cannot sit on his hands and be seen as passive in the face of ruthless action by a foreign dictator.

The art of statesmanship is to foresee the inevitable and to expedite its occurrence.

George Bush has shown great skill at disguising an incredibly weak foreign policy.

I am deeply concerned and troubled about the situation we are up against in the world now and in the immediate future. That is why I would hope that someone with the greatest possible maturity and experience would be available at this time. May I urge you to be patient.

Why did you send that fool with the umbrella to talk to Hitler?. Why didn't you send a man?

If there is not the occasion, you don't get the great statesmen. If Lincoln had lived in peacetime, you would not know his name today.

When you're in the real world as President of the United States it doesn't go according to the script.

Diplomats are only useful in fair weather. As soon as it rains they drown in every drop.