A diplomat's life is made up of three ingredients: protocol, Geritol and alcohol.
About this quote
- What does it mean?
- Diplomacy requires strict adherence to rules and often relies on coping mechanisms like age-related aids and alcohol.
- In plain terms
- Diplomats follow rules and often drink to cope with stress.
- What can you take from it?
- Diplomatic life is rigid and stressful.
Where it applies
Putting it to work
Questions to consider
- What is the real cost of diplomacy?
- How do leaders cope with stress?
Another view
This is a cynical exaggeration, not a universal truth.
More from Adlai Stevenson
An editor is someone who separates the wheat from the chaff and then prints the chaff.
Permalink to quote #75 We travel together, passengers on a little spaceship, dependent on its vulnerable reserves of air and soil; all committed, for our safety, to its security and …
Permalink to quote #77 The Republicans stroke platitudes until they purr like epigrams.
Permalink to quote #74
Related quotes
One of life's best coping mechanisms is to know the difference between an inconvenience and a problem. If you break your neck, if you have nothing to eat, if y…
Robert FulghumRobert Fulghum quote #8 Whether a person is spiritual or not, we all seek to get away from the stress, anger, and anxiety of everyday life. Some people drink, do drugs, or do worse to…
YanniYanni quote #9 I lurch from chaos to chaos. I can't find my driving licence and my clothes are everywhere - cooking is the neatest thing I do.
Nigella LawsonNigella Lawson quote #11