John Bolton Quotes

We're all negotiators.

The whole concept of negotiating is intimidating to many people.

In any negotiation, my goal is to be the most unreasonable person in the room.

The term negotiation implies compromise; painful concessions on the part of both parties.

You can never in negotiations be totally predictable. The minute you’re predictable, they’re going to figure out how to take advantage.

Success of negotiations cannot be guaranteed. If there is no attempt, then failure is guaranteed.

In any negotiation you have a wish list but then you proceed from where you can be.

A pragmatic sense of what will and will not play politically is a critical skill of a negotiator.

Negotiating is an art—it is a real art.

Know what you want to achieve prior to starting to negotiate. It's the golden rule but the one most people fail to heed. Without a plan, you allow the opposing party to define your goals instead of the other way around.

At the end of the day, all the best negotiating techniques can't overcome the most substantive policy differences.

I've been pretty good at negotiating.

I think a great negotiator is an aggressive negotiator, and we're aggressive negotiators, We're not worried about someone coming at us.

I don't think I'm a particularly good negotiator.

Negotiations are a euphemism for capitulation if the shadow of power is not cast across the bargaining table.

Negotiating with the Taliban must be done from a position of strength. Negotiating from a position of weakness would be a disaster.

The first principle of contract negotiations is don't remind them of what you did in the past - tell them what you're going to do in the future.

The Iranians and Persians are excellent at the art of negotiation.

What is negotiation but the accumulation of small lies leading to advantage?

You can't negotiate in public. People won't make concessions in public. They will do that in private. Like sausage making, you have to do it behind closed doors.

The capability of negotiating... is something that means you not only have to understand fully what you believe and what your national interests are but in order to be a really good negotiator, you have to try to figure out what the other person on the other side of the table has in mind.

Certainly it is much easier to think about negotiating and having deals when there is a singular represented point of view. That pretty much is a given.

Most negotiators are trying to get their way.

Negotiations can create conditions that can lead to solutions.

The art of government is the art of negotiating and compromise.