Dean Acheson

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

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

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

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

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.

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

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

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

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

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

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

Always remember that the future comes one day at a time.

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

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

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.

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.

Controversial proposals, once accepted, soon become hallowed.