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Politicians are like dogs, Their life expectancy is too short for a commitment to be bearable

Henry Kissinger

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.
HENRY KISSINGER

Argument Beginning End War
For the balance of power is never static; its components are in constant flux.
HENRY KISSINGER

Philosophy Power Science
Self-governed nations do not fill their neighbor states with spies.
HENRY KISSINGER

Nation Rule Trust
The issues are too important to be left for the voters.
HENRY KISSINGER

Important Issue Vote
What distinguishes Sun Tzu from Western writers on strategy is the emphasis on the psychological and political elements over the purely military.
HENRY KISSINGER

Strategy Writing
Later I learned to improve my forecasting—if necessary by asking the visitor in advance what subjects he intended to raise with Nixon.
HENRY KISSINGER

Learning Myself Necessary
A country that demands moral perfection in its foreign policy will achieve neither perfection nor security
HENRY KISSINGER

Moral Perfection Policy Security
In short, the end justifies the means.
HENRY KISSINGER

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

Alone Deserve Leadership
In his essay, ‘Perpetual Peace,’ the philosopher, Immanuel Kant, argued that perpetual peace would eventually come to the world in one of two ways, by human insight or by conflicts and catastrophes of a magnitude that left humanity no other choice. We are at such a juncture.
HENRY KISSINGER

Human Humanity Nature Peace Philosophy World
The reason that university politics is so vicious is because stakes are so small
HENRY KISSINGER

Politics Reason
The state is a fragile organization, and the statesman does not have the moral right to risk its survival on ethical restraint.
HENRY KISSINGER

Moral Right Risk Survive
Each success only buys an admission ticket to a more difficult problem.
HENRY KISSINGER

Difficult Problem Success
It’s a pity both sides can’t lose (commenting on Iran-Iraq war, 1980 – 1988)
HENRY KISSINGER

Lose War
Covert action should not be confused with missionary work.
HENRY KISSINGER

Action Difference

Politicians are like dogs, Their life expectancy is too short for a commitment to be bearable

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Politicians are like dogs, Their life expectancy is too short for a commitment to be bearable

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