Philip Hammond Quotes

You can't go to a negotiating table pointing a gun, but you've got to keep it over your shoulder.

Negotiation is not a solution and will not solve anything. Those who think of negotiation when they are threatened only reveal their weakness and incapability. That is a bad move.

In relations with other nations, there is neither right nor wrong; there is only strength and weakness.

Peace is purchased from strength. It's not purchased from weakness or unilateral retreats.

It’s better to negotiate with a soft voice and a loaded gun, than to negotiate with just a soft voice.

I do not hold that we should rearm in order to fight. I hold that we should rearm in order to parley.

Diplomacy without arms is music without instruments.

UN administrators ... think that no problem in the world is too intractable to be solved by negotiation. These mandarins fail to grasp that men with guns do not respect men with nothing but flapping gums ... Just as the US Marine Corps breeds warriors, so the UN’s culture breeds conciliators.

As one who fought in all of Israel's wars, and learned from personal experience that without proper force, we do not have a chance of surviving in this region, which does not show mercy towards the weak, I have also learned from experience that the sword alone cannot decide this bitter dispute in this land

Diplomacy between a powerful, victorious army and a side that's losing doesn't really work well.

There is a thin line between peace of the brave and peace of the hostage... between compromise - even calculated risk - and irresponsibility and capitulation.

Negotiations are a euphemism for capitulation if the shadow of power is not cast across the bargaining table.

Sometimes you need conflict in order to come up with a solution. Through weakness, oftentimes, you can't make the right sort of settlement, so I'm aggressive, but I also get things done, and in the end, everybody likes me.

I've been repeating ad nauseam that we in Burma, we are weak with regard to the culture of negotiated compromises, that we have to develop the ability to achieve such compromises.

Arabs respect only the language of force.

Peace comes through strength, not through retreat.

I say that to my colleagues, by the way, in the internal Cabinet meetings, I say, 'Look, I want to be very clear about what I want.' I just - I don't want a peace process, I want a peace result.

I do not believe that diplomacy equals weakness…. If you are going to use force you better make sure that it is effective.

Unless you’re prepared to use force, it’s very difficult to deal with a person who understands only force.

The United States sits down with her enemies because they have some semblance of power.

There’s no reason to respect anyone’s word in that part of the world. The only thing they respect is force and the threat of force.

Strong men know when to compromise.

Those who think that through concessions they will gain respect and peace are wrong. It's the other way around; it will lead to more wars.

It's tough to negotiate from a position of weakness.

Reaching compromise does not signal weakness, but rather is a sign of strength. The ability to compromise is the backbone of democracy.