Men and nations behave wisely once they have exhausted all the other alternatives.

About Abba Eban

Abba Solomon Meir Ebanaba ‘(?)even]; born Aubrey Solomon Meir Eban; 2 February 1915 – 17 November 2002) was a South African-born Israeli diplomat and politician, and a scholar of the Arabic and Hebrew languages.
During his career, he served as Foreign Affairs Minister, Education Minister, and Deputy Prime Minister of Israel.

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More quotes from Abba Eban

A consensus means that everyone agrees to say collectively what no one believes individually.

Abba Eban

Israeli diplomat and politician (1915-2002)

The Jews are the living embodiment of the minority, the constant reminder of what duties societies owe their minorities, whoever they might be.

Abba Eban

Israeli diplomat and politician (1915-2002)

History teaches us that men and nations behave wisely once they have exhausted all other alternatives.

Abba Eban

Israeli diplomat and politician (1915-2002)

If Algeria introduced a resolution declaring that the earth was flat and that Israel had flattened it, it would pass by a vote of 164 to 13 with 26 abstentions.

Abba Eban

Israeli diplomat and politician (1915-2002)

Men and nations behave wisely once they have exhausted all the other alternatives.

Abba Eban

Israeli diplomat and politician (1915-2002)

Consensus is what many people say in chorus but do not believe as individuals.

Abba Eban

Israeli diplomat and politician (1915-2002)

You can’t achieve anything without getting in someone’s way.

Abba Eban

Israeli diplomat and politician (1915-2002)

Time and again these governments have rejected proposals today – and longed for them tomorrow.

Abba Eban

Israeli diplomat and politician (1915-2002)

I think that this is the first war in history that on the morrow the victors sued for peace and the vanquished called for unconditional surrender.

Abba Eban

Israeli diplomat and politician (1915-2002)

Lest Arab governments be tempted out of sheer routine to rush into impulsive rejection, let me suggest that tragedy is not what men suffer but what they miss.

Abba Eban

Israeli diplomat and politician (1915-2002)

It is our experience that political leaders do not always mean the opposite of what they say.

Abba Eban

Israeli diplomat and politician (1915-2002)

His ignorance is encyclopedic.

Abba Eban

Israeli diplomat and politician (1915-2002)

One of the chief tasks of any dialogue with the Gentile world is to prove that the distinction between anti-Semitism and anti-Zionism is not a distinction at all.

Abba Eban

Israeli diplomat and politician (1915-2002)

A statesman who keeps his ear permanently glued to the ground will have neither elegance of posture nor flexibility of movement.

Abba Eban

Israeli diplomat and politician (1915-2002)

Better to be disliked than pitied.

Abba Eban

Israeli diplomat and politician (1915-2002)