A country that demands moral perfection in its foreign policy will achieve neither perfection nor security.
--Henry Kissinger
All truly great achievements in history resulted from the actualization of principles, not from the clever evaluation of political conditions.
--Henry Kissinger
America has no permanent friends or enemies, only interests.
--Henry Kissinger
Covert action should not be confused with missionary work.
--Henry Kissinger
Each success only buys an admission ticket to a more difficult problem.
--Henry Kissinger
Even a paranoid can have enemies.
--Henry Kissinger
I don't read books, I write them.
--Henry Kissinger
I've always acted alone. Americans like that immensely.
--Henry Kissinger
If you believe that their real intention is to kill you, it isn't unreasonable to believe that they would lie to you.
--Henry Kissinger
Intellectuals are cynical and cynics have never built a cathedral.
--Henry Kissinger
Moderation is a virtue only in those who are thought to have an alternative.
--Henry Kissinger
Ninety percent of the politicians give the other ten percent a bad name.
--Henry Kissinger
Political satire became obsolete when Henry Kissinger was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.
--Tom Lehrer
Power is the ultimate aphrodisiac.
--Henry Kissinger
The absence of alternatives clears the mind marvelously.
--Henry Kissinger
The convictions that leaders have formed before reaching high office are the intellectual capital they will consume as long as they continue in office. There is little time for leaders to reflect. They are locked in an endless battle in which the urgent constantly gains on the important.
--Henry Kissinger
The guerrilla wins if he does not lose. The conventional army loses if it does not win.
--Henry Kissinger
The illegal we do immediately. The unconstitutional takes a little longer.
--Henry Kissinger
The nice thing about being a celebrity is that when you bore people, they think it's their fault.
--Henry Kissinger
The superpowers often behave like two heavily armed blind men feeling their way around a room, each believing himself in mortal peril from the other, whom he assumes to have perfect vision.
--Henry Kissinger
The true conservative is not at home in social struggle. He will attempt to avoid unbridgeable schism, because he knows that a stable social structure thrives not on triumphs but on reconciliations.
--Henry Kissinger
There cannot be a crisis next week. My schedule is already full.
--Henry Kissinger
Those who learn from history are condemned to watch others repeat it.
--Henry Kissinger
We must learn to distinguish morality from moralizing.
--Henry Kissinger
Whatever must happen ultimately should happen immediately.
--Henry Kissinger
Found 25 occurence(s) in 52,045 quotation(s).