#Negotiation Quotes

“It is not always possible to have everything go as one likes. In working with allies, it sometimes happens that they develop opinions of their own”

“Now that we are, as you say, 'in the same boat,' would it not be wise for us to have another conference ... and the sooner the better.”

“I do not hold that we should rearm in order to fight. I hold that we should rearm in order to parley.”

“Secrets of Closing the Sale, is essential reading. Ziglar tells us that selling and closing are not mysteries to be solved; instead they are as tangible as when his wife up-sold him on a new house.”

“Never hold discussions with the monkey when the organ grinder is in the room.”

“The smartest side to take in a bidding war is the losing side.”

“I originated a remark many years ago that I think has been copied more than any little thing that I've ever said, and I used it in the follies of 1922. I said America has a unique record. We never lost a war and we never won a conference in our lives. I believe that we could without any degree of egotism, single-handed lick any nation in the world. But we can't confer with Costa Rica and come home with our shirts on.”

“It takes 150 years to build an investment bank and only five minutes to convince you to sell me preferred stock in it at a 10% interest rate.”

“Diplomacy is the art of saying 'Nice doggie' until you can find a rock.”

“Let it be signified to me through any channelthat the possession of the Floridas would be desirable to the United States, andin sixty days it will be accomplished....penned in the language of truth, and divested of those expressions of servility which would persuade his majesty that we are asking favors and not rights.”

“You have no ability, if you're a financial institution and you're threatened with criminal prosecution, you have no ability to negotiate.”

“Could the peaceable principle of the Quakers be universally established, arms and the art of war would be wholly extirpated: But we live not in a world of angels...I am thus far a Quaker, that I would gladly agree with all the world to lay aside the use of arms, and settle matters by negotiation: but unless the whole will, the matter ends, and I take up my musket and thank Heaven He has put it in my power.”

“Compromise" is so often used in a bad sense that it is difficult to remember that properly it merely describes the process of reaching an agreement. Naturally there are certain subjects on which no man can compromise. For instance, there must be no compromise under any circumstances with official corruption, and of course no man should hesitate to say as much.”

“We should never fear to negotiate, nor negotiate from fear.”

“If you put it on the table as a bargaining chip, it becomes a bargaining chip”

“Our goal is peace. We can gain that peace by strengthening our alliances, by speaking candidly about the dangers before us, by assuring potential adversaries of our seriousness, by actively pursuing every chance of honest and fruitful negotiation.”

“When you can't make them see the light, make them feel the heat.”

“If women ran the world there would be no wars. However every 28 days there would be some very intense negotiations.”

“A woman wouldn't make a bomb that kills you. A woman would make a bomb that makes you feel bad for a while. That's why there should be a woman President. There'd never be any wars, just every twenty-eight days there'd be very intense negotiations.”

“The principle of give and take is the principle of diplomacy - give one and take ten”

“Our experience has taught us that with goodwill a negotiated solution can be found for even the most profound problems.”

“Negotiation and discussion are the greatest weapons we have for promoting peace and development.”

“No problem is so deep that it cannot be overcome, given the will of all parties, through discussion and negotiation rather than force and violence.”

“If you don’t intend having a compromise, you don’t negotiate at all.”

“I cherish my own freedom dearly, but I care even more for your freedom. Too many have died since I went to prison. Too many have suffered for the love of freedom. I owe it to their widows, to their orphans, to their mothers and their fathers, who have grieved and wept for them ..... Not only have I suffered during these long lonely wasted years. I am no less life-loving than you are. But I cannot sell the birthright of the people to be free ....... Only free men can negotiate. Prisoners cannot enter into contracts. Your freedom and mine cannot be separated.”

“The ability to negotiate with other people without friction and argument is the outstanding quality of all successful people.”

“What freedom am I being offered while the organization of the people remains banned? Only free men can negotiate. A prisoner cannot enter into contracts.”

“The purpose of direct action is to create a situation so crisis-packed that it will inevitably open the door to negotiation.”

“Only free men can negotiate; prisoners cannot enter into contracts. Your freedom and mine cannot be separated.”

“If you are negotiating you must do so in a spirit of reconciliation, not from the point of view of issuing ultimatums.”

“The keys of a fortress are always well worth the retirement of the garrison when it is resolved to yield only on those conditions. On this principle it is always wiser to grant an honorable capitulation to a garrison which has made a vigorous resistance than to risk an assault.”

“You negotiate in bad faith if you do not forgive your adversary.”

“Only free men can negotiate. A prisoner cannot enter into contracts.”

“The best weapon is to sit down and talk.”

“To negotiate is not to do as one likes.”

“The timid man yearns for full value and demands a tenth. The bold man strikes for double value and compromises on par.”

“You cannot treat with all the world at once.”

“There are two ways to resolve conflicts, through violence or through negotiation. Violence is for wild beasts, negotiation is for human beings.”

“Negro leaders sought to negotiate with the city fathers. But the political leaders consistently refused to engage in good-faith negotiation.”

“The end of nonviolent 'war' is always an agreement, never dictation, much less humiliation of the opponent.”

“I can cope with nine of them, so they ought to be able to stand one of me. They could end the tiresomeness and stubbornness by giving me what I want.”

“We weren't getting a fair deal on the budget and I wasn't going to have it. There's a great strand of equity and fairness in the British people - this is our characteristic. There's not a strand of equity and fairness in Europe - they're out to get as much as they can. That's one of those enormous differences. So I tackled it on that basis.”

“A bully has no respect for a weakling and the way to stop a bully is not to be weak. The way to stop a bully from ever being a bully is to say: "I'm as strong as you. Anything you do to me, I can do to you." We are going for nuclear and conventional disarmament but we're going about it in the right way.”

“The Government wants a peaceful settlement. But we totally reject a peaceful sell-out.”

“All compromise is based on give and take, but there can be no give and take on fundamentals. Any compromise on mere fundamentals is a surrender. For it is all give and no take.”

“If you want to get a deal, negotiate with the teams yourself. Say, "I want this much, and no less, but I'll show up to camp on time." It doesn't seem that hard to me.”

“I think business has to be stupider. I want to do really straightforward, stupid business - just talk to me like a 4-year-old. And I refuse to negotiate. I do not negotiate. I can collaborate. But I'm an artist, so as soon as you negotiate, you're being compromised.”

“So let us begin anew - remembering on both sides that civility is not a sign of weakness, and sincerity is always subject to proof”

“Let us never negotiate out of fear. But let us never fear to negotiate.”

“Sales people should take lessons from their kids. What does the word ‘no’ mean to a child? Almost nothing.”