Yitzhak Rabin Quotes

Covenants without the sword are but words and of no strength to secure a man at all.

Reward and punishment are the twin instruments of power in the State; they must not be revealed to anyone.

Enforcement is a very important part of the administration strategy. We think that even our friendly nations should live by the rules, and if they don't, we will intend to enforce things against them.

A law has to have teeth.

A need for enforcement implies the possibility of behavior that violates the rules of the game. The point is that if there were no possibility of violation, then you wouldn't need enforcement.

Power alone is respected and ... in order to gain peace, the United States has no alternative but to wield it

Our sword must not be made of wood ... we must follow up on our threats if our demands are not obeyed.

Punishment alone governs all created beings.

People who challenge the United States and the international order [must] suffer enormous and unacceptable consequences.

There never was a government without force.... A governement leaving it to a man to do his duty, or not, as he pleases, would be a new species of government, or rather no government at all.

If you don't want war, then you had better be an advocate for diplomacy with muscle.

It is one thing to persuade, another to command; one thing to press with arguments, another with penalties.

In international affairs, you never threaten things you're not prepared to do.

Force is legitimate where gentleness avails not.

To attempt to superimpose its views through the exercise of force, is seldom the part of intelligence; it is frequently the part of ignorance.

The most powerful men were those who most effectively used the power of adult competence to enforce childish agreements.

In the U.S., you have so many rules, everything's regulated and structured. When you make a mistake, you pay for it -a lot.

A law is not a law without coercion behind it.

Laws are generally not understood by three sorts of persons, viz, by those who make them, by those who execute them, and by those who suffer if they break them.

Do not have any doubt that I will apply the law over whoever is responsible for not complying with the law.

We need, first of all, for there to be accountability, for there to be somebody who is responsible for enforcing standards and holding people's feet to the fire.

Poles understand perhaps better than anyone the consequences of making toothless warnings to brutal tyrants and terrorist regimes.

We have disciplinary authority and will use it when appropriate.

You can do a lot with diplomacy, but with diplomacy backed up by force you can get a lot more done

The only way to fight terrorism is to fight it, not to reward it…. When terror receives one victory, terror seeks other victories.