Dean Acheson

The great corrupter of public man is the ego. Looking at the mirror distracts one's attention from the problem.

I learned from the example of my father that the manner in which one endures what must be endured is more important than the thing that must be endured.

No people in history have ever survived who thought they could protect their freedom by making themselves inoffensive to their enemies.

Controversial proposals, once accepted, soon become hallowed.

A memorandum is written not to inform the reader but to protect the writer.

I will undoubtedly have to seek what is happily known as gainful employment, which I am glad to say does not describe holding public office.

We have actively sought and are actively seeking to make the United Nations an effective instrument of international cooperation.

Negotiating in the classic diplomatic sense assumes parties more anxious to agree than to disagree.

The first requirement of a statesman is that he be dull.

The manner in which one endures what must be endured is more important than the thing that must be endured.

Washington is like a self-sealing tank on a military aircraft. When a bullet passes through, it closes up.

The greatest mistake I made was not to die in office.

If we learn the art of yielding what must be yielded to the changing present, we can save the best of the past.

The most important aspect of the relationship between the president and the secretary of state is that they both understand who is president.

It is worse than immoral, it's a mistake.

Great Britain has lost an empire and has not yet found a role.

Negotiation in the classic diplomatic sense assumes parties more anxious to agree than to disagree.

The best thing about the future is that it comes only one day at a time.