John H. Johnson Quotes

Reacting in anger or annoyance will not advance one's ability to persuade.

I was raised that way: don't get mad, get smart.

Never get angry. Never make a threat. Reason with people.

Always remember that your calmness under fire is your best defense in any argument or discussion.

You don't have to use aggression to squash somebody. You have to use your brain.

I am very angry, and you don't need angry politicians. You need politicians with great balance.

When all else failed, she tried being reasonable.

He who keeps his cool best wins.

It is highly probable that in most cases, war could be avoided or ended. For discussions allow passion to subside, and to persuade alienated neighbors, or at least one of them, to listen to the voice of a conciliator is a step in the direction of peace.

Those who cannot understand how to put their thoughts on ice should not enter into the heat of debate.

My position does not give me the liberty to exclude anything, but my mood tells me there will not be violence.

I'm plain incapable of getting angry with Angela Merkel and likewise.

The most important thing in an argument, next to being right, is to leave an escape hatch for your opponent, so that he can gracefully swing over to your side without too much apparent loss of face.

We must continue to pursue peace through diplomacy, but we must also not shrink from our responsibility through the option of strength. We must take advantage of internal resistance and change from within Iran to avert this path of mutual destruction.

I would like to be George Clooney diplomatic. I just don't have the wherewithal yet or the inner serenity.

I think I can take responsibility for that in that I was the audience. I was the voice of sanity around whom all these crazies did their dance. And I reacted in the same way that a member of the audience would have reacted.

It's very important not to lose your temper in a courtroom, or in anything else you're doing.

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.

While exceptional employees don't seek conflict, they don't run away from it either. They're able to maintain their composure while presenting their positions calmly and logically. They're able to withstand personal attacks in pursuit of the greater goal and never use that tactic themselves.

Calm down. If you want to be President you have to be calm.

Soft words and hard arguments.

Diplomacy is the art of letting somebody else have your way.

In peace, as there is more time to spare, the leaders are expected to persuade the rank and file, instead of commanding them.

I have a way of just being ice and just cooling situations and making things work.

If you're making enemies along the way, you're going to limit the ability for yourself to be successful in advancing your causes.