Henry Kissinger

Empires have no interest in operating within an international system; they aspire to be the international system. Empires have no need for a balance of power. That is how the United States has conducted its foreign policy in the Americas, and China through most of its history in Asia.

Diplomacy (1994), p. 21, 1994

A country that demands moral perfection in its foreign policy will achieve neither perfection nor security.

"Reflections on Containment", Foreign Affairs, Vol. 73, No. 3 (June 1994), p. 130, 1994

Gorbachev knew what his problems were but he acted both too fast and too slowly: too fast for the tolerance of his system, and too slowly to arrest the accelerating collapse.

Diplomacy (1994), 1994

The study of history offers no manual of instructions that can be applied automatically; history teaches by analogy, shedding light on the likely consequences of comparable situations.

Diplomacy (1994), 1994

If you believe that their real intention is to kill you, it isn't unreasonable to believe that they would lie to you.

Observation made privately, quoted by Time journalist Michael Kramer, The Case for Skepticism Time, (26 December 1988), in the context of doubts about PLO sincerity in hinting about recognition of Israel., 1988

Ninety percent of the politicians give the other ten percent a bad reputation.

As quoted in The Other 637 Best Things Anybody Ever Said (1984) by Robert Byrne, 1984

Blessed are the people whose leaders can look destiny in the eye without flinching but also without attempting to play God.

The End of the Road (1982), Ch. 25 "Years of Upheaval", 1982

The accumulation of nuclear arms has to be constrained if mankind is not to destroy itself.

Press conference held on (February 13, 1974), 1974

I don't see why we need to stand by and watch a country go communist due to the irresponsibility of its own people. The issues are much too important for the Chilean voters to be left to decide for themselves.

Meeting of the "40 Committee" on covert action in Chile (June 27, 1970) quoted in The CIA and the Cult of Intelligence (1974); the quotation was censored prior to publication due to legal action by the government. See The New York Times (September 11, 1974) "Censored Matter in Book About C.I.A. Said to Have Related Chile Activities; Damage Feared" by Seymour Hersh, 1974

It is barely conceivable that there are people who like war.

Transcript of telephone conversation with the poet and antiwar activist Allen Ginsberg from the National Security Archive (April 23, 1971), 1971

I tell you, the Pakistanis are fine people, but they are primitive in their mental structure. [...] They just don't have the subtlety of the Indians. (August 10, 1971)

In conversation with Richard Nixon. Quoted in Gary J. Bass "The Terrible Cost of Presidential Racism" The New York Times (September 3, 2020), 1971

Intellectuals are cynical and cynics have never built a cathedral.

As quoted in Sketchbook 1966-1971 (1971) by Max Frisch, p. 230, 1971

There cannot be a crisis next week. My schedule is already full.

As quoted in The New York Times Magazine (June 1, 1969), 1969

If Communist China agrees to renounce the use of force in the formosa strait, we could consider opening up channels of non-official contact... journalists, students, tourists, etc.

LOC, Position Papers (April 11, 1962), 1962

I...was a little puzzled by your suggestion that we should return to a diplomacy like Bismarck's. Having once planned to write a book on Bismarck's diplomacy and, indeed, having finished half of it, I could think of few policies more likely to lead to catastrophe in present circumstances.

LOC, G-13, HAK to Michael Howard (July 31, 1961)., 1961