Chris Matthews Quotes

I don't think that anybody should be ruling in or ruling out anything while we are conducting diplomacy.

You can’t outsource diplomacy. You can’t do it unless you do it.

I'm simply saying that there are advantages in sending a skilled diplomat who can always say, 'I'll get back to you on that, Mr. Minister'.

We always have hoped that American diplomacy deploys itself in dialogue and persuasion rather than by ultimatums. That is the path we want in international relations.

Diplomacy is the art of saying 'Nice doggie' until you can find a rock.

Modern diplomats approach every problem with an open mouth.

My diplomatic position will not consist of going and kneeling down in front of George Bush.

Negotiations are the most essential tool of statecraft.

In an ideological age, diplomacy may seem weak and prosaic. But sometimes it is all we have.

A constructive approach to diplomacy doesn't mean relinquishing one's rights. It means engaging with one's counterparts, on the basis of equal footing and mutual respect, to address shared concerns and achieve shared objectives.

By the way, if you do your job on behalf of your country, you have meetings where you put your position forward strongly, and the other side does the same thing. And I've had plenty of meetings in my career that really were heated, people yelling at each other.

And we ought to work our diplomacy first and I think it's a reason it's going to respond increasingly to our diplomacy particularly with the president's direct involvement in the peace process, and I think that's extraordinarily important.

Players have a great deal of flexibility when conducting diplomatic relations with their allies.

American diplomacy is easy on the brain but hard on the feet.

There was no authority with which diplomacy could deal.

The history of diplomacy is the history of relations among rival powers which did not enjoy political intimacy and did not respond to appeals to common purposes. Nevertheless, ... to think that rival and unfriendly powers cannot be brought to a settlement is to forget what diplomacy is about.

No two men ever devised plans of action to accomplish a particular object without finding that there were differences in their plans. That is peculiarly the case in international affairs.

In a chaotic world, U.S. diplomats will probably have even less contact with the people they need to reach.

I believe in much more diplomacy, not less.

There is nothing fast or easy about diplomacy. I have no illusions about that.

The Obama administration sought to appease the Iranians at any and all cost.

I believe in diplomacy; I don't believe in talking to... that talking to Iran somehow constitutes a concession or a favour.

A mercurial plan of action may have worked in the Trump Organization board room, but it's a disastrous tactic in foreign affairs.

Our adversaries must see diplomacy as their best option because war with the United States will force them to bear enormous costs.

We've said to the Iranians all along . . . we still remain open to diplomacy. But it's been very clear that the Iranians don't want to engage with us.