Logo - Feel The Words

Diplomats Quotes

The work behind the peace.

These diplomats quotes describe a demanding, often thankless job: officers moved constantly between postings, expected to represent governments abroad while adjusting to freedoms unavailable at home. See related ideas on our Art quotes page.

When our diplomats go abroad, they are surprised that they can't do the things that they can do here.

Quotes by Toomas Hendrik Ilves

I wanted to be a man who travelled the world to make peace. I didn't realise that most diplomats are megaphones for their governments.

Quotes by Stellan Skarsgard

My dad is Japanese; he was an art director there. My mom is half-English, half-Argentinian. They met in Japan in the '70s. Her parents were diplomats posted there.

Quotes by Sonoya Mizuno

British diplomats who worked in Iran during the 1980 hostage crisis are deeply upset by Ben Affleck's Oscar-winning film 'Argo,' which suggests they refused shelter to the group who managed to get out of the U.S. embassy.

Quotes by Simon Hoggart

Able Quotes

As fiscal constraints impinge on defence and diplomacy, governments find themselves increasingly homebound, even if diplomats happily travel to summits.

Quotes by Sanjaya Baru

Russia has conducted a coordinated cyberattack on state election systems and hacked critical infrastructure. They have used social media to sow chaos and discord in our society. They have beaten and harassed U.S. diplomats and violated anti-proliferation treaties.

Quotes by Richard Burr

The symbolic significance of individual athletes' achievements has sometimes proved more productive than the negotiations of diplomats or politicians.

Quotes by Richard Attias

I'm convinced there's a small room in the attic of the Foreign Office where future diplomats are taught to stammer.

Quotes by Peter Ustinov

It is fortunate that diplomats have long noses since they usually cannot see beyond them.

Quotes by Paul Claudel

Abu Quotes

American diplomats worked closely with the League of Nations. The United States used its considerable influence to settle some of the outstanding issues left over from World War I, and Washington took the lead in negotiating naval limitations in the...

Quotes by Margaret MacMillan

The government, as a rule, discourages specialization: Military officers and diplomats are constantly transferred from one post to another, from one region to the next. Still, specialists do emerge.

Quotes by Keith Gessen

How is the world ruled and led to war? Diplomats lie to journalists and believe these lies when they see them in print.

Quotes by Karl Kraus

It's a necessary quality of a diplomat or a politician that he will compromise. Uncompromising politicians or diplomats get you into the most terrible trouble.

Quotes by John Keegan

I've traveled with Jack Murtha to Iraq three times to learn more about the region, talk with our diplomats and military leaders, and meet with our troops. Those visits are the main reason that I opposed the War in Iraq...

Quotes by John B. Larson

Art Quotes

Journalists are in the same madly rocking boat as diplomats and statesmen. Like them, when the Cold War ended, they looked for a new world order and found a new world disorder. If making and conducting foreign policy in today's...

Quotes by Henry Grunwald

'Toughness' and 'credibility' are leitmotifs that run through both Trumpian and Kissingerian deal-making. Both men insist that war and diplomacy are inseparable and that, to be effective, diplomats need to be able to wield threats and offer incentives in equal,...

Quotes by Greg Grandin

The Iraqi regime was supporting terrorist cells all over the world. We had to expel three Iraqi diplomats from the Philippines because of evidence that they were either in touch with Abu Sayyaf or doing their own espionage.

Quotes by Gloria Macapagal Arroyo

For even the most seasoned diplomats and foreign policymakers, the Israel-Palestinian conflict is a pressure cooker assignment that can cause angst of an existential nature.

Quotes by Gillian Turner

Certainly Afghans in general and women in particular want a country in which security is a daily reality rather than a campaign slogan or the focus of drive-by speeches from diplomats dropping in for the day.

Quotes by Gayle Tzemach Lemmon

More Quotes

Let's make a deal with the Serbs. Neither history nor emotion in the Balkans will permit multinationalism. We have to give up on the illusion of the last eight years... Dayton isn't working. Nobody - except diplomats and petty officials...

Quotes by Franjo Tudjman

You may also like

Frequently Asked Questions

What do these diplomats quotes say about the job itself?
They describe diplomats as constantly transferred between postings and often surprised abroad by freedoms they don't have back home.
Is diplomacy shown in a fully positive light?
Not entirely. One quote criticizes diplomats as megaphones for their governments, showing the tension between personal ideals and official duty.
Do any quotes mention peace-making directly?
Yes, one describes wanting to travel the world to make peace, then realizing the reality of representing a government was more complicated than expected.
Is there a quote about how the public perceives diplomats?
One line notes that journalists are sometimes lied to and then repeat those lies in print, pointing to how misinformation can shape views of diplomacy.
Where can I read more quotes on service and dedication?
Visit our Able quotes page for more on the demands and dedication behind difficult work.

Together they paint diplomacy as harder and less glamorous than its reputation suggests. Continue with our Able and More quotes pages for related themes.