Skip to content
quotesby

About this quote

What does it mean?
A truly sincere diplomat is a contradiction in terms.
In plain terms
Diplomats cannot be truly sincere.
What can you take from it?
Diplomacy often hides true intentions.

Where it applies

  • international relations
  • negotiation
  • corporate strategy

Putting it to work

  • Verify claims independently
  • Expect guarded communication

Questions to consider

  • Can diplomats be honest?
  • Is deception necessary in politics?

Another view

It denies the possibility of honest diplomacy.

More from Joseph Stalin

  1. If any foreign minister begins to defend to the death a 'peace conference,' you can be sure his government has already placed its orders for new battleships an…

    Permalink to quote #2
  2. The press must grow day in and day out - it is our Party's sharpest and most powerful weapon.

    Permalink to quote #4
  3. We think that powerful and lifeful movement is impossible without differences - 'true conformity' is possible only in the cemetery.

    Permalink to quote #1

Related quotes

  1. Time and again these governments have rejected proposals today-and longed for them tomorrow.

    Abba EbanAbba Eban quote #15
  2. With Hillary at her side, Suha Arafat made the deliberately false allegation that 'Our [Palestinian] people have been submitted to the daily and intensive use …

    Hillary ClintonHillary Clinton quote #69
  3. Yes, today we have genuine Russian weather. Yesterday we had Swedish weather. I can't understand why your weather is so terrible. Maybe it is because you are i…

    Nikita KhrushchevNikita Khrushchev quote #1