The absence of alternatives clears the mind marvelously. - Henry Kissinger
University politics are vicious precisely because the stakes are so small. - Henry Kissinger
Americans have a tendency to believe that when there's a problem there must be a solution. - Henry Kissinger
Each success only buys an admission ticket to a more difficult problem. - Henry Kissinger
Ninety percent of the politicians give the other ten percent a bad reputation. - Henry Kissinger
Power is the great aphrodisiac. - Henry Kissinger
History knows no resting places and no plateaus. - Henry Kissinger
Blessed are the people whose leaders can look destiny in the eye without flinching but also without attempting to play God - Henry Kissinger
A turbulent history has taught Chinese leaders that not every problem has a solution and that too great an emphasis on total mastery over specific events could upset the harmony of the universe. - Henry Kissinger
There cannot be a crisis next week. My schedule is already full. - Henry Kissinger
The illegal we do immediately. The unconstitutional takes a little longer. - Henry Kissinger
Every civilization that has ever existed has ultimately collapsed. - Henry Kissinger
Nobody will ever win the Battle of the Sexes. There's just too much fraternizing with the enemy. - Henry Kissinger
In every era, humanity produces demonic individuals and seductive ideas of repression. The task of statesmanship is to prevent their rise to power and sustain an international order capable of deterring them if they do achieve it. - Henry Kissinger
Corrupt politicians make the other ten percent look bad. - Henry Kissinger
The real distinction is between those who adapt their purposes to reality and those who seek to mold reality in the light of their purposes. - Henry Kissinger
Moderation is a virtue only in those who are thought to have an alternative. - Henry Kissinger
No one will ever win the battle of the sexes, because there is too much fraternizing with the enemy. - Henry Kissinger
A crisis does not always appear to a policymaker as a series of dramatic events. Usually it imposes itself as an exhausting agenda of petty chores demanding both concentration and endurance. - Henry Kissinger
The task of the leader is to get his people from where they are to where they have not been. - Henry Kissinger
Military men are just dumb, stupid animals to be used as pawns in foreign policy. - Henry Kissinger
A leader does not deserve the name unless he is willing occasionally to stand alone. - Henry Kissinger
The nice thing about being a celebrity is that when you bore people, they think it's their fault. - Henry Kissinger