The Diplomat's Dictionary Quotes

“Pacifism: "Like a snake devouring a mouse, the Earth devours a king who is inclined to peace."

— Arthasastra of Kautilya

Pacifism: "Virtue, stripped of force, reveals its own weakness. ... A state which only defends itself against its powerful neighbors with justice and moderation will be defeated sooner or later."

— Abbot Mably, 1757

Peace: "Peace itself is war in masquerade."

— John Dryden, 1682

Peace, as primary policy objective: "Whenever peace — conceived as the avoidance of war — has been the primary objective of a power or a group of powers, the international system has been at the mercy of the most ruthless member of the international community. Whenever the international order has acknowledged that certain principles could not be compromised even for the sake of peace, stability based on an equilibrium of forces [has been] at least conceivable."

— Henry A. Kissinger, 1964

Peace, bad: "There never was a good war or a bad peace."

— Benjamin Franklin, 1773

Peace, bad: "A bad peace is even worse than war."

— Tacitus, c. 110

[See The Annals III.44: Miseram pacem vel bello bene mutari.]”
― Chas W. Freeman Jr., The Diplomat's Dictionary

“Flatterers: "He who knows how to flatter also knows how to slander."

— Napoleon

Flattery: Diplomats must have no delusions of grandeur, but they should know how to induce them in others.

Flattery: "Flattery pleases very generally. In the first place, the flatterer may think what he says to be true; but, in the second place, whether he thinks so or not, he certainly thinks those whom he flatters of consequence enough to be flattered."

— Samuel Johnson

Flattery, influence through: "Praise other men whose deeds are like those of the person you are talking to; commend other actions which are based on the same policies as his. If there is someone else who is guilty of the same vice he is, be sure to gloss over it by showing that it really does no great harm; if there is someone else who has suffered the same failure he has, be sure to defend it by demonstrating that it is not a loss after all. If he prides himself on his physical prowess, do not antagonize him by mentioning the difficulties he has encountered in the past; if he consider himself an expert at making decisions, do not anger him by pointing out his past errors; if he pictures himself a sagacious planner, do not tax him with his failures. Make sure that there is nothing in your ideas as a whole that will vex your listener, and nothing about your words that will rub him the wrong way, and then you may exercise your powers of rhetoric to the fullest. This is the way to gain the confidence and intimacy of the person you are addressing and to make sure you are able to say all you have to say without incurring his suspicion."

— Han Feizi, as translated by Burton Watson

[誉异人与同行者，规异事与同计者。有与同污者，则必以大饰其无伤也；有与同败者，则必以明饰其无失也。彼自多其力，则毋以其难概之也；自勇其断，则无以其谪怒之；自智其计，则毋以其败穷之。大意无所拂悟，辞言无所系縻，然后极骋智辩焉，此道所得亲近不疑而得尽辞也。——《韩非子·说难》]”
― Chas W. Freeman Jr., The Diplomat's Dictionary

“Conquest: "All territorial expansion, all seizures by force or by cunning ... are merely the cruel workings of political madness and abused power, the effect of which is to increase administrative expense and confusion and to diminish the comfort and security of the governed merely to indulge the whim or vanity of their governors."

— Talleyrand

Constancy: "In ... cases which involve imminent peril there will be found somewhat more of stability in republics than in princes. For even if the republics were inspired by the same feelings and intentions as the princes, yet the fact of their being slower will make them take more time in forming resolution, and therefore they will less promptly break their faith."

— Niccolò Machiavelli

Consul: "In American politics, a person who having failed to secure an office from the people is given one by the Administration on condition that he leave the country."

— Ambrose Bierce, 1906

Consuls: "Consuls are the Cinderellas of the diplomatic service."

— A consul, quoted by Eric Clark”
― Chas W. Freeman Jr., The Diplomat's Dictionary

“Compromise: "[A compromise is] such an adjustment of conflicting interests as gives each adversary the satisfaction of thinking he has got what he ought not to have, and is deprived of nothing except what was justly his due."

— Ambrose Bierce

Concessions: In negotiation, the more concessions are made, the more are expected by those receiving them. Therefore, while minor concessions may be necessary to establish mutual confidence that agreement is possible and to demonstrate good faith, the best strategy is usually to withhold major concessions until the final stage of negotiation, when they can be used to secure an agreement.

Concessions, sham: "One common method of minimizing real concessions and taking advantage of situational pressure to reciprocate concessions is to incorporate sham conditions into a basic negotiating platform, elevate them to the level of other 'genuine' demands, and try to barter them off for some gain."

— Michael Blaker”
― Chas W. Freeman Jr., The Diplomat's Dictionary

“Battle: "[A battle is] a method of untying with the teeth a political knot that would not yield to the tongue."

— Ambrose Bierce

Battlefied results, diplomacy and: "Diplomacy has rarely been able to gain at the conference table what cannot be gained or held on the battlefield."

— Walter Bedell Smith, 1954

Blockade: The use by a state or coalition of military force to prevent imports or exports from the territory of another state or coalition, a measure just short of war that leaves the actual initiation of hostilities to the decision of those being blockaded.

Bluffing: Avoid deadlines and ultimata unless you mean them. Otherwise, the other side may use them against you.

Blunders, bureaucratic: "In ninety-nine cases out of a hundred, when there is a quarrel between two states, it is generaly occasioned by some blunder of a ministry."

— Benjamin Disraeli, 1858

Blunders, diplomatic: "Our diplomats plunge us forever into misfortune; our generals always save us."

— Otto von Bismarck, c. 1850”
― Chas W. Freeman Jr., The Diplomat's Dictionary

“Arbitration: The process of adjudication of a dispute by a tribunal, a majority of whose members are appointed by the disputantas, whose decision to the disputants agree to accept as final and binding. Contrast Conciliation.

Arbitration: Arbitration should not be entered lightly. It can allow a third party to determine the destiny of your nation, perhaps at the expense of its vital interests. Arbitrate only if you manifestly have principle on your side but are so weak that you must call on others to enforce it.

Arbitration: "International arbitration may be defined as the substitution of many burning questions for a smoldering one."

— Ambrose Bierce

Arbitration, defense through resort to: "It is impossible to attack as a transgressor him who offers to lay his grievance before a tribunal of arbitration."

— King of Sparta, quoted by Thucydides [cf. History of Peloponnesian War, Book 1 Chapter 85.2]”
― Chas W. Freeman Jr., The Diplomat's Dictionary

“Amiability: Diplomats must strive to build and maintain cordial personal relations with officials of the government to which they are accredited. Amiability on the surface, no matter how strained relations may be beneath it, keeps open channels of communication that can be vital to the resolution of issues between states when the time to resolve them is at hand.

Amity, cross-cultural: "There is a mutual bond of amity and brotherhood between man and man over all the world ... Nor is it distance of place that makes enmity, enmity makes distance. He therefore that keeps peace with me, near or remote, of whatever nation, is to me as far as all civil and human offices an Englishman and a neighbor ... This is gospel."

— John Milton, 1649

Anger: Never get angry except on purpose.”
― Chas W. Freeman Jr., The Diplomat's Dictionary

“Alliance: "In international politics, [an alliance is] the union of two thieves who have their hands so deeply inserted in each other's pockets that they cannot separately plunder a third."

— Ambrose Bierce

Alliance: "An alliance is like a chain. It is not made stronger by adding weak links to it."

— Walter Lippmann

Alliance: "A wise prince sees to it that never, in order to attack someone, does he become the ally of a prince more powerful than himself, except when necessity forces him."

— Niccolò Machiavelli, 1513”
― Chas W. Freeman Jr., The Diplomat's Dictionary

“Zeal: "Above all, not too much zeal!"

— Attributed to Talleyrand”
― Chas W. Freeman Jr., The Diplomat's Dictionary

“Words: "To jaw-jaw is always better than to war-war."

— Winston Churchill

Words: "Nothing is more important to diplomacy than care in choosing and reporting words. Whether the formulations are vague or precise, other nations must assume that they were selected deliberately and with thought. That is why such care must be given to statements made during official visits and in official speeches. In foreign ministries around the world, what you say gets quoted back to you, and you are expected to stand behind your words."

— George P. Shultz, 1993

Words, actions and: "A diplomat's words must have no relation to actions — otherwise what kind of diplomacy is it? Words are one thing, actions another. Good words are a concealment of bad deeds. Sincere diplomacy is no more possible than dry water or iron wood."

— Attributed to J. V. Stalin

Wrath, deflection of: "A soft answer turneth away wrath."

— Proverbs XV, 1, c. 350 B.C.”
― Chas W. Freeman Jr., The Diplomat's Dictionary

“Wartime, diplomacy in: "If we accept the notion that the object of war is to induce a certain frame of mind in the consciousness of the adversary and not to destroy him or to render him helpless in the determination of the postwar settlement, it follows that diplomacy is never in suspense. It has a three-phased task: to prevent war when possible; to control its course once it has broken out, and to end it as soon as possible in conditions likely to prevent its renewal."

— Abba Eban, 1983

Weapons: Weapons are tools for making your enemies change their minds.

Weapons: "Weapons are of little use on the field of battle if there is no wise counsel at home."

— Cicero

Will: "There are no purely political solutions any more than purely military solutions and ..., in the relation among states, will may play as great a role as power."

— Henry A. Kissinger, 1957

Wisdom: "Men and nations do behave wisely, once all other alternatives have been exhausted."

— Abba Eban, 1967”
― Chas W. Freeman Jr., The Diplomat's Dictionary

“War, without victory: If there is no clear victor in war or combat fails to secure the terms set by the victor, the issues will become less, not more, tractable. The bitter memory of conflict will imbue these issues with an emotional ferver far beyond that which they originally possessed.

War and diplomats: "While war is merely hell for the soldiers, it is unemployment and degredation for the diplomats."

— Martin Mayer, 1983

Warfare, political: Political warfare is an aspect of grand strategy that combines polemics, propaganda, public diplomacy, subversion, and psychological operations.

Warriors, as peacemakers: "A man who is used to command finds it almost impossible to learn to negotiate, because negotiation is an admission of finite power."

— Henry A. Kissinger, 1964

Warriors, diplomats and: "The diplomat is the servant, not the master of the soldier."

— Alexander II (of Russia), 1863

Warriors, diplomats and: "The military wants to do what the diplomats don't think is necessary, and the diplomats want the military to do what the military is too nervous to do."

— George P. Shultz, 1982

Warriors, politics and: "There is no greater fatuity than a political jugment dressed in a military uniform."

— David Lloyd George”
― Chas W. Freeman Jr., The Diplomat's Dictionary

“War, rules of: "The laws of war, that restrain the exercise of rapine and murder, are founded on two principles of substantial interest: the knowledge of the permanent benefits which can be obtained by a moderate use of conquest, and a just apprehension lest the desolation which we inflict on the enemy's country may be retaliated on our own."

— Edward Gibbon

War, state of: "Every city [state] is in a normal state of war with every other, not indeed proclaimed by heralds, but everlasting."

— Plato

[See The Laws, Book 1 Section 626a, also cf. Peace]

War, termination of: "Do not exact conditions which will compel your former adversary to await his time for revenge."

— Attributed to Count Otto von Bismarck

War, termination of: "If it is difficult to start a war, it is almost impossible to end it until it has run its course — that is, until one side is completely ruined and the other side almost, if not quite, ruined."

— R. B. Mowat, 1936

War, termination of: "Diplomacy has an important part to play at the onset of a war. When no adjustment can be found which satisfies all parties, and they are left with the decision to resort to force, the role of the diplomat is to look to the future, to the conditions in which after the clash of arms the effort to compel can once more give way to the dialogue of persuasion. ... Wise statesmen ... will ... bear in mind the future settlement with the enemy, and will see the advantage of making their demands on him as palatable as possible, so that he will be more easily brought to accept them and easier to live with in international society afterwards."

— Adam Watson, 1983”
― Chas W. Freeman Jr., The Diplomat's Dictionary

“War, peace, success in: "The success of war is victory; the success of peace is stability."

— Henry A. Kissinger, 1964

War, policymaker and: "War hath no fury like a non-combatant."

— C. E. Montague, 1922

War, purpose of: "The object of war is to obtain a better peace — even if only from your own point of view. ... It is essential to conduct war with constanct regard to the peace you desire. ... If you concentrate exclusively on victory, with no thought for the after-effect, you may be too exhausted to profit by the peace, while it is almost certain that the peace will be a bad one, containing the germs of another war."

— Basil Liddell Hart, 1974

War, resort to: Never take by force what you can induce the other side to agree to give you, however reluctantly, by means short of unilateral or violent action.”
― Chas W. Freeman Jr., The Diplomat's Dictionary

“War, objectives of: The first question anyone planning to start a war, or to respond with force to an act of aggression, should ask is not whether his nation's forces can prevail in battle. That is indeed a vital question. In addition, he should ask what objectives, once achieved, would justify ending the war, and why anyone on the other side should regard these changes in the status quo as either temporary or permanently acceptable. How will the fighting be ended? On what terms? Negotiated by and with whom? What happens after the conflict is over? Will the seeds of future military actions be planted in the terms of the peace? If there are no clear answers to these questions, the better course may well be to refrain from threatening or initiating military action.

War, outcome of: "Governments tend to lose sight of the ending of wars and the nation's interests that lie beyond it, precisely because fighting a war is an effort of such vast magnitude. Thus it can happen that military men, while skillfully planning their intricate operations and coordinating complicated maneuvers, remain curiously blind in failing to perceive that it is the outcome of the war, not the outcome of the campaigns within it, that determines how well their plans serve the nation's interests. At the same time, the senior statesmen may hesitate to insist that these beautifully planned campaigns be linked to some clear ideas for ending the war, while expending their authority and energy to oversee some tactical details of the fighting. If generals act like constables and senior statemen act like adjutants, who will be left behind to guard the nation's interests?"

— Fred Charles Ikle, 1991”
― Chas W. Freeman Jr., The Diplomat's Dictionary

“War, negotiation as a path to: The object of a negotiation can be either agreement or rupture. If the desired outcome of the negotiations is rupture and the manufacture of a casus belli, it is best to phrase one's demands in terms of principles with wide appeal, the application of which would be ruinous for one's opponent in the matter at issue. One should insist on discussing these principles rather than practical solutions to the problems at hand in order to lay a basis for charging one's opponent with such unreasonable disregard for principle as to have made dealing with him impossible. On the other hand, if the object is to reach agreement, it is best to phrase one's demands in terms of the practical results they will produce and to stress the benefits or lack of concrete injury their acceptance will bring to the other side.

War, objectives of: "He who wishes to fight must first reckon the cost."

— Cao Cao

(曹操曰：欲战，必先算其费，务因粮于敌也。See Sun Tzu's Art of War with Eleven Strategists' Annotations《十一家注孙子》)

War objectives of: "It is fatal to enter any war without the will to win it."

— Douglas MacArthur, 1952

War, objectives of: "Stay your hand or strike to kill; half measures leave walking enemies."

Proverb”
― Chas W. Freeman Jr., The Diplomat's Dictionary

“War, military vs. diplomatic influence during: "Changes in the internal structure of government furnish a further and particularly important reason why wars are easier to start than to stop. When a nation becomes engaged in a major war, a new set of men and new government agencies often move into the center of power. As 'diplomacy breaks down' at the begnning of hostilities, the role of foreign ministries in dealing with the enemy is much diminshed. ... The influence that comes with day-to-day decisions is transferred to military staffs. At the very moment that the diplomats are being expelled from the enemy capitals, the military leaders come to command a vastly increased segment of national resources. This shift in political influence means that the governments on both sides in a war will be concerned primarily with their current military efforts."

— Fred Charles Ikle, 1991”
― Chas W. Freeman Jr., The Diplomat's Dictionary

“War, limited: War for objectives declared by those conducting it to be narrow and limited rather than broad and open-ended. The purpose of such a declared limitation of objectives is to diminish the apparent challenge to the strategic interests of potential adversaries and thereby forestall the broadening of the war to include them. Limited war, in a self-defeating variant, is also occasionally taken to mean the pursuit of broad ends by strictly limited means, an approach more likely to produce frustration than victory.

War, limited: "There are three prerequisites for a strategy of limited war: (1) the limited war force must be able to prevent the potential aggressor from creating a fait accompli; (2) they must be of a nature to convince the aggressor that their use, while involving an increased risk of all-out war, is not an inevitable preclude to it; (3) they must be coupled with a diplomacy which succeeds in conveying that all-out war is not the sole response to aggression and that there exists a willingness to negotiate a settlement short of unconditional surrender."

— Henry A. Kissinger, 1960

War, logic of: "For any war effort — offensive or defensive — that is supposed to serve long-term national objectives, the most essential question is how the enemy might be forced to surrender, or failing that, what sort of bargain might be struck with him to terminate the war."

— Fred Charles Ikle, 1991”
― Chas W. Freeman Jr., The Diplomat's Dictionary

“War, delight in: "To delight in war is a merit in the soldier, a dangerous quality in the captain, and a positive crime in the statesman."

— George Santayana, 1906

War, economics of: "The object of those who make war, either from choice or ambition, is to conquer and to maintain their conquests, and to do this in such a manner as to enrich themselves and not to impoverish the conquered country. To do this, then, the conqueror should take care not to spend too much, and in all things mainly to look to the public benefit."

— Niccolò Machiavelli

War, guerrilla: "The guerrilla wins if he does not lose; the conventional army loses if it does not win."

— Henry A. Kissinger, 1969

War, justification for: War may rightly be undertaken to diminish the strength of a power whose growth implies a future danger to its neighbors.”
― Chas W. Freeman Jr., The Diplomat's Dictionary

“War: "War must ... be regarded as only a means to peace; action as a means to leisure."

— Aristotle

[See Politics, Book VII Section 1333a]

War: "War is delightful for those who have had no experience of it."

— Erasmus

War: "Against war it may be said that it makes the victor stupid and the vanquished vengeful."

— Nietzsche, 1878

[Zu Ungunsten des Krieges kann man sagen: er macht den Sieger dumm, den Besiegten boshaft.

See Human, All Too Human, Aphorism #444]

War:”
― Chas W. Freeman Jr., The Diplomat's Dictionary

“Virtues, in different societies: Generally, political cultures place the highest value on those traits that are rarest among their officials. Thus, a society that values sincerity is most likely to lack it; one that esteems straightforwardness is probably prone to sharp practices; and one that reserves its highest praise for probity may reliably be presumed to be wanting in it.”
― Chas W. Freeman Jr., The Diplomat's Dictionary

“Victory, best: "The most complete and happy victory is this: to compel one's enemy to give up his purpose, while suffering no harm oneself."

— Belisarius

Victory, dangers of: "Nothing is more dangerous to a nation than victory. Very few people know how to taste a victory without being swallowed up by it. Defeat is the supreme stimulus for a nation of spirit."

— Léon Gambetta

Victory, painless: "A victory gained before the situation has crystallized is the one common man does not comprehend. Thus its author gains no reputation for sagacity. Before he has bloodied his blade the enemy state has submitted."

— Du Mu

[胜于未萌，天下不知，故无智名；曾不血刃，敌国已服，故无勇功也。——杜牧, an annotation to Sunzi's The Art of War "故善战者之胜也，无智名，无勇功" (Hence the clever fighters' victories bring him neither reputation for wisdom nor credit for courage. )]

Victory, problems of: Victory is a more difficult art than war.

Victory, use of: Victory counts for nothing if those who gain it don't know what to make of it.”
― Chas W. Freeman Jr., The Diplomat's Dictionary

“Victory, bargaining position of: "The bargaining position of the victor always diminishes with time. Whatever is not exacted during the shock of defeat becomes increasingly difficult to attain later."

— Henry A. Kissinger, 1994

Victory: "In victory, magnanimity; in peace, good will."

— Winston Churchill

Victory: "The only excuse for going to war is to be able to live in peace undistubed. When victory is won we should spare those who have not been bloodthirsty or barbarous in their warfare."

— Cicero

Victory: "Victory is by nature insolent and haughty."

— Cicero, 46 B.C.

[Et in victoria, quae natura insolens et superba est. — Pro Marcello]

Victory: "To win without fighting is best."

— Sunzi

[不战而屈人之兵，善之善者也。——《孙子兵法·谋攻》]”
― Chas W. Freeman Jr., The Diplomat's Dictionary

“Vanity: "Diplomatists, especially those who are appointed to, and liable to remain in, smaller posts, are apt to pass by slow gradations from ordinary human vanity to an inordinate sense of their own importance. The whole apparatus of diplomatic life — the ceremonial, the court functions, the large houses, the lackeys and the food — induces an increasing sclerosis of personality."

— Harold Nicolson

Vanity: "The dangers of vanity in a negotiator can scarcely be exaggerated. It tempts him to disregard the advice or opinions of those who may have had longer experience of a country, or of a problem, than he possesses himself. It renders him vulnerable to the flattery or attacks of those with whom he is negotiating. It encourages him to take too personal a view of the nature and purposes of his functions and in extreme cases to prefer a brilliant but undesirable triumph to some unostentatious but more prudent compromise. It leads him to boast of victories and thereby to incur the hatred of those whom he has vanquished. It may prevent him, at some crucial moment, from confessing to his government that his predictions or his information were incorrect. It prompts him to incur or to provoke unnecessary friction over matters which are of purely social importance. It may cause him to offend by ostentation or ordinary vulgarity. It is at the root of all indiscretion and most tactlessness. It lures its addicts into displaying their own verbal brilliance, and into such fatal diplomatic indulgences as irony, epigrams, insinuations, and the barbed reply. ... And it may bring its train those other vices of imprecision, excitability, impatience, emotionalism and even untruthfulness."

— Harold Nicolson

[See also, Influence, virtues from which derived]”
― Chas W. Freeman Jr., The Diplomat's Dictionary

“Values, interests: Shared moral views can ease communication between peoples and unite nations in condemnation of those with contrasting values and standards of behavior, but they do not provide a basis for joint action. The resolve of states to exert themselves for a common purpose comes from their perception that they share political, economic, and security interests.”
― Chas W. Freeman Jr., The Diplomat's Dictionary

“Unprecedented: "In foreign policy, the term 'unprecedented' is always somewhat suspect, because the actual range of innovation is so circumscribed by history, domestic institutions, and geography."

— Henry A. Kissinger, 1994

Useful: "There are few ironclad rules of diplomacy but to one there is no exception. When an official reprots that talks were useful, it can safely be concluded that nothing was accomplished."

— John Kenneth Galbraith, 1969

[See also Candid, Cordial, Frank, Friendly, Productive]”
― Chas W. Freeman Jr., The Diplomat's Dictionary

“United Nations: "You can safely appeal to the United Nations in the comfortable certainty that it will let you down."

— Conor Cruise O'Brien, 1985

United Nations, infirmities of: "The United Nations perfectly embodies in institutional form the tragic paradox of our age; it has become indispensable before it has become effective. ... To exist at all it cannot depart very far from its present structure; to develop at all it requires the focus and drive which only a permanent and potent leader can give it."

— Herbert Nicolas

United Nations, representation at the: The United Nations provides a convenient central point of contact with other governments for states that cannot afford to establish or do not have the personnel to staff many embassies internationally.”
― Chas W. Freeman Jr., The Diplomat's Dictionary

“Ultimata: Ultimata are dangrous tools in diplomacy. To be effective, ultimata must be credible to those to whom they are directed and must convey the prospect of intolerable losses to them, quite disproportionate to any conceivable gain from noncompliance. This means not only that those making the threat must clearly have the capacity to carry it out and that it must be believed that they will do so at the threatened moment, but also that the damage they propose to wreak must be such that the adversary will assess it to outweight pride and the emotional gains to be had from continued defiance. Judging whether an adversary will reach this conclusion involves careful consideration of his mindset and of that of his domestic supporters and opponents. No ultimatum should be so final that an adversary lacks time to digest it and to choose his answer after the mature reflection born of internal consultation and debate.

Ultimatum: A threat, indicating a final position that, if not accepted within a time limit, will lead to action, often military in nature.

Understandings: Unwritten understandings between friendly nations reflective of a community of interest tend to be more durable than written treaties between adversaries.

Undertakings: "Never agree to do something unless you know you can do it. If you give your word, you had better deliver. That way you develop trust. Trust is the coin of the realm."

— Bryce Harlow, quoted by George P. Shultz, 1993”
― Chas W. Freeman Jr., The Diplomat's Dictionary

“Truce: "If without reason one begs for a truce it is assuredly because affairs in his country are in a dangerous state and he wishes to make a plan to gain a respite. Or otherwise, he knows that our situation is susceptible to his plots and he wants to forstall our suspicions by asking for a truce. Then he will take advantage of our unpreparedness."

— Chen Hao

Truth: "The highest diplomacy ... consists largely of plain and truthful statement."

— Charles G. Dawes, 1935”
― Chas W. Freeman Jr., The Diplomat's Dictionary

“Treaties, duration of: "Treaties at best are but complied with so long as interest requires their fulfillment. Consequently, they are virtually binding on the weaker party only; or, in plain truth, they are not binding at all."

— Washington Irving, 1809

Triumph: "Victory and defeat are the negation of diplomacy. The diplomat should never forget that the problem he is working on is of only relative importance in that it is one of an unending series that must be discussed with the other party through the years, and therefore, while he must do as much as is expedient for his country, it must be within such limits and under such terms as will obviate resentment and a sense of injustice in future negotiations. It is important to have everybody satisfied, so that they bring to the next meeting a desire for further agreement and not a yearning for revenge — the inevitable result of defeat."

— Hugh Gibson, 1944”
― Chas W. Freeman Jr., The Diplomat's Dictionary