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A leader does not deserve the name unless he is willing occasionally to stand alone.

Henry Kissinger

Can governmental orders be invented from scratch by intelligent thinkers, or is the range of choice limited by underlying organic and cultural realities (the Burkean view)?
HENRY KISSINGER

Choice Government Intelligence Limitation Thinking
Nobody will ever win the battle of the sexes. There is too much fraternizing with the enemy.
HENRY KISSINGER

Enemy Win
Covert action should not be confused with missionary work.
HENRY KISSINGER

Action Difference
A more immediate issue concerns North Korea, to which Bismarck’s nineteenth-century aphorism surely applies: We live in a wondrous time, in which the strong is weak because of his scruples and the weak grows strong because of his audacity.
HENRY KISSINGER

Growth Issue Live Strong Time Weakness Wonderful
in international affairs a reputation for reliability is a more important asset than demonstrations of tactical cleverness.
HENRY KISSINGER

Important Reputation Worth
For nations, history plays the role that character confers on human beings.
HENRY KISSINGER

Character History Human Nation Play
America has no permanent friends or enemies, only interests
HENRY KISSINGER

Enemy Friendship
The reason that university politics is so vicious is because stakes are so small
HENRY KISSINGER

Politics Reason
Power is the ultimate aphrodisiac.
HENRY KISSINGER

One Liner Power
When statesmen want to gain time, they offer to talk.
HENRY KISSINGER

Man Talk Time
In short, the end justifies the means.
HENRY KISSINGER

End Justice
Power without legitimacy tempts tests of strength; legitimacy without power tempts empty posturing.
HENRY KISSINGER

Empty Power Strength
Every victory is only the price of admission to a more difficult problem
HENRY KISSINGER

Difficult Price Problem Victory
History knows no resting places and no plateaus
HENRY KISSINGER

History Nature Place
If chess is about the decisive battle, wei qi is about the protracted campaign. The chess player aims for total victory. The wei qi player seeks relative advantage.
HENRY KISSINGER

Decision Seek Victory
Ninety percent of the politicians give the other ten percent a bad reputation.
HENRY KISSINGER

Politics Reputation

A leader does not deserve the name unless he is willing occasionally to stand alone.

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A leader does not deserve the name unless he is willing occasionally to stand alone.

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