Emanuel Cleaver Quotes

You cannot antagonize and influence at the same time.

The only way to deal with gridlock is compromise. And if we compromise, it means we’ll have a confused policy.

We need a lot more respect in this country for compromise…. There is in compromise a lot of integrity, especially political integrity.

By nature, I am a unifier. I am a builder of consensus. I don't believe in sloppy compromise. But I do believe in bringing people together.

Engagement is not appeasement. Engagement is not surrender.

The Senate is a place filled with goodwill and good intentions, and if the road to hell is paved with them, then it's a pretty good detour.

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.

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

I sure tried to help deliver compromise, consensus, bipartisanship.

Costa Rica believes in building bridges, in looking for solutions to problems, and not clinging to positions.

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.

One thing is certain, You can't shake hands with a fist.

Compromise is an underrated virtue. The world is awash with dead people because politicians would not compromise.

The Senate is a place filled with goodwill and good intentions, and if the road to hell is paved with them, it's a pretty good detour.

Compromise, compromise and compromise.

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

Compromise is the oil that makes government go.

It ought not to be beyond the intelligence of even the most hidebound local politician to see the benefits of imaginative compromise.

There is an appealing moral clarity in dividing the world into friend and foe. But in reality, progress in international affairs so often demands working with those with whom we do not see eye to eye.

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.

One of the ways usually that you build a bipartisan agreement is one side gives up a little, and the other side gives up a little.

Legislating is a very human experience in which trust and mutual respect play critical roles.

I have tried to treat people on the other side civilly and look for common ground.

It's not compatible to expect multilateralism to work and, at the same time, to expect to walk out with everything you wanted. This is a recipe for failure. If we prize the system, we have to come knowing that we will need to make compromises. Sometimes painful compromises.

I believe the answers to most problems that confront us around the world can and should be approached by engaging both friend and foe in dialogue. No, I don't naively think that dialogue always works, but I believe we should avoid the rigidity of saying that dialogue never works.