Lester B Pearson Quotes

The only failures are those who fail to try.

Misunderstanding arising from ignorance breeds fear, and fear remains the greatest enemy of peace.

Politics is the skilled use of blunt objects.

When you are special to a cat, you are specialindeed. She brings to you the gift of her proference of you, the sight of you, the sound of your voice,the touch of your hand

Diplomacy, defined: "Diplomacy is letting someone else have your way." — Lester B. Pearson, 1965 Diplomacy, mystery of: Diplomacy is "an obscure art, which hides itself in the folds of deceit, which fears to let itself be seen, and believes that it can exist only in the darkness of mystery." — Le Trône, 1777 Diplomacy, nasty things said nicely: "Diplomacy is to do and say the nastiest thing in the nicest way." — Proverb Diplomacy, pleasure of: "Diplomacy is a first-class stall seat at the theatre of life." — Bernhard von Bülow

Precision: "Diplomacy, if it is ever to be effective, should be a disagreeable business. ...It would be interesting to analyse how many false decisions, how many fatal misunderstandings, have arisen from such pleasant qualities as shyness, consideration, affability or ordinary good manners." — Harold Nicolson Precision: "There is nothing more important in negotiation than to make it perfectly clear what was agreed upon. ... The lines should be made so clear that little or nothing can be read between or behind them." — Lester B. Pearson, 1959 Precision: "In diplomacy, many problems are solved by not being too precise and public about solutions." — George P. Shultz, 1993 Prejudice: "The basic rule is that neither admiration of his host country nor lack of it must ever be allowed to color a diplomat's judgment respecting his own country's interest. Nor must it disfigure in any other way the objective and professional character of his performance." — William Macomber, 1975