I don't stand on protocol. Just call me your Excellency. Henry A. Kissinger More Quotes by Henry A. Kissinger More Quotes From Henry A. Kissinger The convictions that leaders have formed before reaching high office are the intellectual capital they will consume as long as they continue in office. Henry A. Kissinger officeleaderlong I don't think we should pay people to fight terrorism. I would be amazed if they asked for anything in return. Henry A. Kissinger fightingpeoplethinking If we do what is necessary, all the odds are in our favor. Henry A. Kissinger favorsoddsinspirational Create the impression of endless willingness to compromise and you almost invite deadlines. That's the challenge we now have in North Korea and have had in North Korea for 10 years. In this sense, diplomacy and foreign policy and other elements of political activity have to be closely linked and have to be understood by the negotiators Henry A. Kissinger koreabusinessyears The greatest need of the contemporary international system is an agreed concept of order. Henry A. Kissinger relationorderneeds Leaders must invoke an alchemy of great vision. Henry A. Kissinger visionleadershipinspirational 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. Henry A. Kissinger allianceschanceremember While we should never give up our principles, we must also realize that we cannot maintain our principles unless we survive. Henry A. Kissinger realizinggiving-upprinciples We have to be careful in negotiating with Iran that we don't create the impression among the Arab states and the Sunni states that we are working on a condominium between Iran and the United States, because that will panic them and drive them into making their own arrangement. Henry A. Kissinger paniciranunited-states I don't have a brief for every single reaction of Israel, but I think it is important that the political negotiations occur free of the threat of terrorism. Henry A. Kissinger politicalisraelthinking It is one of history's ironies that Communism, advertised as a classless society, tended to breed a privileged class of feudal proportions. Henry A. Kissinger ironycommunismclass U.S. policy toward the third world should be one of depopulation Henry A. Kissinger depopulationshouldworld The superpowers often behave like two heavily armed blind men feeling their way around a room, each believing himself in mortal peril from the other, whom he assumes to have perfect vision. Henry A. Kissinger mentwobelieve In my life, I have almost always been on the side of active foreign policy. But you need to know with whom you are cooperating. You need reliable partners. Henry A. Kissinger partnerssidesneeds In my particular case foreign policy happens to be my hobby, my consuming interest. I had spent decades studying it. Henry A. Kissinger hobbiescasesstudy I don't think that that's a desirable option for us. Besides, it wouldn't work, because there are too many other countries that are willing to work economically with China. But I don't think the basic relationship depends on economics. It depends on a political understanding of what is required for peace in Asia. Henry A. Kissinger politicalcountrythinking There are some people who think that at some time in the future, China may challenge us for supremacy in the Pacific, and therefore, what do we do today to prevent that? And you, of course, will say that we will try to thwart any economic progress in China. If we engaged in such a policy, we would turn a billion-plus people into nationalist opponents of the United States. Henry A. Kissinger challengespeoplethinking Becoming conscious is of course a sacrilege against nature; it is as though you had robbed the unconscious of something. The nice thing about being a celebrity is that if you bore people they think it's their fault. Henry A. Kissinger nicepeoplethinking If you mean by "military victory" an Iraqi government that can be established and whose writ runs across the whole country, that gets the civil war under control and sectarian violence under control in a time period that the political processes of the democracies will support, I don't believe that is possible. Henry A. Kissinger militaryrunningcountry The emergence of a unified Europe is one of the most revolutionary events of our time. Henry A. Kissinger eventsrevolutionaryeurope
