Policy is the art of the possible, the science of the relative.
HENRY KISSINGERPoor old Germany. Too big for Europe, too small for the world
More Henry Kissinger Quotes
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Later I learned to improve my forecasting—if necessary by asking the visitor in advance what subjects he intended to raise with Nixon.
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Yet freedom cannot be secured or sustained without a framework of order to keep the peace.
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It has the added advantage of being true.
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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)?
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Woe to the statesman whose arguments for entering a war are not as convincing at its end as they were at the beginning, Bismarck had cautioned.
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Behind the slogans lay an intellectual vacuum.
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Power without legitimacy tempts tests of strength; legitimacy without power tempts empty posturing.
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Order always requires a subtle balance of restraint, force, and legitimacy.
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When statesmen want to gain time, they offer to talk.
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A turbulent history has taught Chinese leaders that not every problem has a solution and that too great an emphasis on total mastery over specific events could upset the harmony of the universe.
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The absence of alternatives clears the mind marvelously.
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The issues are too important to be left for the voters.
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The goal of the tribute system was to foster deference, not to extract economic benefit or to dominate foreign societies militarily.
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Ninety percent of the politicians give the other ten percent a bad reputation.
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Blessed are the people whose leaders can look destiny in the eye without flinching but also without attempting to play God
HENRY KISSINGER