Robert H. Legvold Quotes

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

I don't want to get into the blame game. That's not my job.

If Russia and the United States approach each other in starkly adversarial terms, the conflict will badly warp the foreign policy of both countries ...

There's certain things that we do work with Russia on, and then there's certain things when they do something wrong, I have no problem calling them out on it.

If you have learned how to disagree without being disagreeable, then you have discovered the secrete of getting along - whether it be business, family relations, or life itself.

I have always believed in dialogue and in nonviolence, and if you look at my background you will see that it has always been my policy to talk to everyone.

Avoid sarcasm. Don't insist on the last word.

Violent statements and threats cannot provide a solution to the problem. They can only exacerbate feeling and make a clash of forces inevitable.

The list of problems that we all experience may be endless, but I honestly cannot abide by the rule that, 'He who yells louder is heard.'

We experience problem-solving sessions as war zones, we view competing ideas as enemies, and we use problems as weapons to blame and defeat opposition forces. No wonder we can't come up with real lasting solutions!

It's better to have a dialogue with your enemies than not.

A grand bargain [with Russia] will not be achieved in a sweeping package that comes together at a single point in time. While attractive to contemplate, such a sudden strategic outcome is a chimera. Our best hope is in saying we will confront where we must but cooperate where we can.

They put aside the talk of peace and instead acted for peace.

There is no conflict that can’t be solved.

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.

Our Russian policy must not be dictated by people who have already made up their minds there is no possibility of working with the Russians and that our interests are bound to conflict and ultimately lead to war. From my point of view, this is an untenable position and can but lead to disaster.

There is no fun in getting into a debate or a contest of wills. If something important comes out of the conversation, okay. If not, that's okay, too.

It is never helpful to point at sticking points, but it is always helpful to encourage one's partners to take a more active and forward-looking approach.

Disagreements will always occur between us, but we all approach them wanting the best for each and every one of us, for the whole people.

The beginning to correcting all of our mistakes is communication.

The Fundamental Principle that governs - or ought to govern -human affairs if we wish to avoid misunderstandings, conflicts, or pointless utopias, is negotiation.

Engagement is not appeasement. Engagement is not surrender.

I am completely in favour of dialogue and engagement. But it must be a true, open dialogue.

If the auto plants in Detroit would just sit around the table and say, 'What do we gotta do to make this thing work?' Instead of, 'I want this and I want that.' They might make it.

Anger, and the self-righteousness that is both the cause and consequence of anger, tends to be easier on the psyche than personal responsibility.