John Kerry Quotes

Peace in the Middle East has been on the Obama administration's mind from the beginning. Two days after his inauguration, the president traveled to the State Department to announce the appointment of George Mitchell as his Middle East peace negotiator.

Richard Holbrooke is known for many things, but I will remember him as an impressive, sometimes even intimidating diplomat who understood the value of culture in diplomacy.

Under my leadership, the government will strive for peace and will not miss an opportunity to bring about regional change.

The United States played the role of encouraging both sides to come together to try to finally resolve this issue, and we were pleased to see leaders on both sides work courageously to get that done.

Politics and war are remarkably similar situations.

The important thing is that we recognize our President's leadership, that he is not saying: I am going to walk away from this. He is saying: I am going to do the right thing.

A prime minister has to keep a certain balance when dealing with sensitive issues.

I remember the last three days that I was president, I never went to bed at all. I never went to bed until we had negotiated the final release of the hostages.

Sharon is capable of making peace.

On the other hand, the waging of peace as a science, as an art, is in its infancy. But we can trace its growth, its steady progress, and the time will come when there will be particular individuals designated to assume responsibility for and leadership of this movement.

I think no one could have made peace in Bosnia besides Holbrooke.

You ought to dialogue first before you start throwing spears. And I think the U.N. provides an opportunity for dialogue.

It's really necessary for the United States to continue to give strong leadership to the Middle East peace process, supported by European countries at the same time.

To craftsmanship we shall add statesmanship in the capitol of peace.

Most of the international community, most of the countries around the world, don't want any side, any party to take unilateral steps. They would like that all of us to stick to the road map.

My colleagues and I have gone in the footsteps of our predecessors since the very first day we were called by our people to care for their future. We went any place, we looked for any avenue, we made any effort to bring about negotiations between Israel and its neighbors, negotiations without which peace remains an abstract desire.

The art of statesmanship is to foresee the inevitable and to expedite its occurrence.

Treaties of peace, made after war, are entrusted to individuals to negotiate and carry out.

Yasser Arafat was the epitome of gracious Arab hospitality. I must have had 1000 meals with him. The problem was that he could never translate that hospitality to negotiations.

Let him (the king) also appoint an ambassador who is versed in all sciences, who understands hints, expressions of the face and gestures, who is honest, skilful, and of noble family. Such an ambassador is commended to a king who is loyal, honest, skilful, possessing a good memory, who knows the proper place and time for action, who is handsome, fearless, and eloquent. For the ambassador alone makes kings' allies and separates allies; the ambassador transacts that business by which kings are disunited or not.

We have generals working on worst-case scenarios; we need statesmen on best cases.

It is my sacred moral and juridical duty to try to diminish international tensions wherever I can.

We won’t be very successful with the Chinese leadership [on human rights issues] if we’re in their face all the time.

There is no area where experience matters more than in war and diplomacy.

Diplomacy is a frequently neglected imperative.