“Diplomacy: the art of restraining power.”
Art
“Power is the great aphrodisiac.”
GreatAll Quotes by Henry A. Kissinger
“It was a Greek tragedy. Nixon was fulfilling his own nature. Once it started it could not end otherwise.”
History“Art is man's expression of his joy in labor.”
Art“The statesman's duty is to bridge the gap between his nation's experience and his vision.”
Experience“It is, after all, the responsibility of the expert to operate the familiar and that of the leader to transcend it.”
Leadership“Leaders must invoke an alchemy of great vision.”
Great“There cannot be a crisis next week. My schedule is already full.”
Funny“Ninety percent of the politicians give the other ten percent a bad reputation.”
Politics“University politics are vicious precisely because the stakes are so small.”
Politics“The Vietnam War required us to emphasize the national interest rather than abstract principles. What President Nixon and I tried to do was unnatural. And that is why we didn't make it.”
War“A leader does not deserve the name unless he is willing occasionally to stand alone.”
Alone“We cannot always assure the future of our friends we have a better chance of assuring our future if we remember who our friends are.”
Future“Moderation is a virtue only in those who are thought to have an alternative.”
Funny“Each success only buys an admission ticket to a more difficult problem.”
Success“Power is the great aphrodisiac.”
Great“Blessed are the people whose leaders can look destiny in the eye without flinching but also without attempting to play God.”
God“People are generally amazed that I would take an interest in any form that would require me to stop talking for three hours.”
Amazing“A leader who confines his role to his people's experience dooms himself to stagnation a leader who outstrips his people's experience runs the risk of not being understood.”
Experience“The task of the leader is to get his people from where they are to where they have not been.”
Leadership“No country can act wisely simultaneously in every part of the globe at every moment of time.”
Time