Hafez Al-Assad Quotes

You need people that are willing to talk to the other side, or you're never going to get anything done. You need to be willing to expand your ground. There's always usually a place on issues where you can find common ground.

The main purpose of dialogue is to come to an agreement on how the two parties can work together, realize their mutual interests, and avoid conflict as much as possible

Negotiators run the risk of achieving agreement and then having to take yes for an answer when they are emotionally accustomed to confrontation.

Conflict resolution cannot be merely about eliminating all opposition or reducing the choices in negotiating the problem to two mutually exclusive sets of rights and wrongs. Rather, it must consist of laboring to bring everybody to accept reality and then to project a future with this understanding as the foundation.

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

Compromise is part of how we get things done.

When we face problems or disagreements today, we have to arrive at solutions through dialogue. Dialogue is the only appropriate method. One-sided victory is no longer acceptable. We must work to resolve conflicts in a spirit of reconciliation and always keep in mind the interests of others.

Solutions must be based on compromises.

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

The best way to solve problems and to fight against war is through dialogue.

You have to listen to adversaries and keep looking for that point beyond which it's against their interests to keep on disagreeing or fighting.

To resolve problems through negotiation is a very childish approach.

The art of government is the art of negotiating and compromise.

Only negotiations can resolve long standing grievances.

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.

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

It’s hard to cut a deal if you don’t know who to make a deal with.

Negotiation is not trading. Negotiation is creating new and original solutions.

Negotiations can resolve differences, cooperation can replace confrontation and development can create a win-win scenario.

A huge amount of negotiations and diplomacy has nothing to do with bartering or arguing but is just trying to get everyone [doing the negotiating] on the same page. It takes yours, days, even weeks sometimes.

I'm always ready to negotiate in good faith with others.

Choose the path of dialogue rather than the path of unilateral decisions.

I hope everybody will go back to the negotiating table. I've always said this is the only way forward.

I'd like to add that negotiating is not something to be avoided or feared - it's an everyday part of life.

If you want to make peace with your enemy, you have to work with your enemy. Then he becomes your partner.