Quote By Henry Kissinger

To be absolutely certain about something, one must know everything or nothing about it.

Former US Secretary Of State And National Security Advisor

Born: May 27, 1923

Died: November 29, 2023

Henry Kissinger, Nobel laureate and former U.S. Secretary of State, played a key role in shaping 20th-century diplomacy with a realpolitik approach.

Explanation Of The Quote

This quote suggests that true certainty requires either complete knowledge or complete ignorance. Partial knowledge often leads to doubt and uncertainty, whereas full understanding or lack of any knowledge can lead to absolute certainty.

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Because complexity inhibits flexibility, early choices are especially crucial.

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Americans have a tendency to believe that when there's a problem there must be a solution.

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Facts are rarely self-explanatory; their significance, analysis, and interpretation—at least in the foreign policy world—depend on context and relevance.

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The reason that university politics is so vicious is because stakes are so small.

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The state is a fragile organization, and the statesman does not have the moral right to risk its survival on ethical restraint.

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It is not often that nations learn from the past,even rarer that they draw the correct conclusions from it.

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Behind the slogans lay an intellectual vacuum.

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Every victory is only the price of admission to a more difficult problem.

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A country that demands moral perfection in its foreign policy will achieve neither perfection nor security.