There are few ironclad rules of diplomacy but to one there is no exception. When an official reports that talks were useful, it can safely be concluded that nothing was accomplished.

Quote by John Kenneth Galbraith

Topics: John Kenneth Galbraith Quotes

Power is not something that can be assumed or discarded at will like underwear.

Power is not something that can be assumed or discarded at will like underwear.

A person buying ordinary products in a supermarket is in touch with his deepest emotions.

A person buying ordinary products in a supermarket is in touch with his deepest emotions.

If it is dangerous to suppose that government is always right, it will sooner or...

If it is dangerous to suppose that government is always right, it will sooner or...

The great dialectic in our time is not, as anciently and by some still supposed,...

The great dialectic in our time is not, as anciently and by some still supposed,...

One can relish the varied idiocy of human action during a panic to the full,...

One can relish the varied idiocy of human action during a panic to the full,...

In all life one should comfort the afflicted, but verily, also, one should afflict the...

In all life one should comfort the afflicted, but verily, also, one should afflict the...

The enemy of the conventional wisdom is not ideas but the march of events.

The enemy of the conventional wisdom is not ideas but the march of events.

The Metropolis should have been aborted long before it became New York, London or Tokyo.

The Metropolis should have been aborted long before it became New York, London or Tokyo.

Faced with the choice between changing one's mind and proving that there is no need...

Faced with the choice between changing one's mind and proving that there is no need...

Modesty is a vastly overrated virtue.

Modesty is a vastly overrated virtue.

Wealth, in even the most improbable cases, manages to convey the aspect of intelligence.

Wealth, in even the most improbable cases, manages to convey the aspect of intelligence.

Nothing is so admirable in politics as a short memory.

Nothing is so admirable in politics as a short memory.

We are becoming the servants in thought, as in action, of the machine we have...

We are becoming the servants in thought, as in action, of the machine we have...

Under capitalism, man exploits man. Under communism, it's just the opposite.

Under capitalism, man exploits man. Under communism, it's just the opposite.

There is an insistent tendency among serious social scientists to think of any institution which...

There is an insistent tendency among serious social scientists to think of any institution which...

Meetings are a great trap. Soon you find yourself trying to get agreement and then...

Meetings are a great trap. Soon you find yourself trying to get agreement and then...

All of the great leaders have had one characteristic in common: it was the willingness...

All of the great leaders have had one characteristic in common: it was the willingness...

The commencement speech is not, I think, a wholly satisfactory manifestation of our culture.

The commencement speech is not, I think, a wholly satisfactory manifestation of our culture.

We all agree that pessimism is a mark of superior intellect.

We all agree that pessimism is a mark of superior intellect.

We have escapist fiction, so why not escapist biography?

We have escapist fiction, so why not escapist biography?