Diplomacy

Diplomacy is to do and say

The nastiest thing in the nicest way.

Isaac Goldberg  1887- 1938

I'm not as diplomatic as I ought to be.  I've noticed that my children have inherited this trait, and they say what they mean, and they mean what they say.  Sometimes, the things they say are misconstrued by their hearers.  It is a strange art, the art of diplomacy, and it is wise to learn how to balance truth with grace.

Here are a few more quotes about diplomacy:

I'm always diplomatic when heavily outnumbered by armed strangers. ~S. M. STIRLING, The Sunrise Lands
All diplomacy is a continuation of war by other means. ~ZHOU ENLAI, Saturday Evening Post, Mar. 27, 1954
All war represents a failure of diplomacy.~ TONY BENN, speech, Feb. 28, 1991
An ambassador is an honest man sent to lie abroad for the good of his country. ~SIR HENRY WOTTON, inscribed on the album of Christopher Fleckmore, 1604
There are few ironclad rules of diplomacy but to one there is no exception. When an official reports that talks were useful, it can safely be concluded that nothing was accomplished. ~JOHN KENNETH GALBRAITH, "The American Ambassador," Foreign Service Journal, June 1969
The principle of give and take is the principle of diplomacy — give one and take ten. ~MARK TWAIN, Bite-Size Twain: Wit and Wisdom from the Literary Legend
Diplomacy is the art of saying, "Nice doggie!" until you can find a stick. ~VERNON K. MCLELLAN, Wise Words and Quotes
To say nothing, especially when speaking, is half the art of diplomacy. ~WILL DURANT, The Story of Civilization
A diplomat is a man who can juggle a hot potato long enough for it to become a cold issue. ~VERNON K. MCLELLAN, Wise Words and Quotes
Let us never negotiate out of fear, but let us never fear to negotiate. ~JOHN F. KENNEDY


Until points of gravest import yielded slowly one by one,

And by Love was consummated what Diplomacy begun.  ~Concepcion de Arguello   ~
 Francis Bret Harte

How do you know that I am a diplomat?
By the skilful way you hide your claws.
~Emund Rostand, Cyrano de Bergerac

Some diplomat no doubt
Will launch a heedless word,
And lurking war leap out, ~ John Davidson, 1857 - 1909