Abba Eban quotes

Men and nations behave wisely once they have exhausted all the other alternatives. (Abba Eban)
If Algeria introduced a resolution declaring that the earth was flat and that Israel had flattened it, it would pass by a vote of 164 to 13 with 26 abstentions.
Abba Eban
I think that this is the first war in history that on the morrow the victors sued for peace and the vanquished called for unconditional surrender.
Abba Eban
His ignorance is encyclopedic.
Abba Eban
The Arabs never miss an opportunity to miss an opportunity.
Abba Eban
One of the chief tasks of any dialogue with the Gentile world is to prove that the distinction between anti-Semitism and anti-Zionism is not a distinction at all.
Abba Eban
A statesman who keeps his ear permanently glued to the ground will have neither elegance of posture nor flexibility of movement.
Abba Eban
A consensus means that everyone agrees to say collectively what no one believes individually.
Abba Eban
You can't achieve anything without getting in someone's way. You can't be detached and effective.
Abba Eban
Better to be disliked than pitied.
Abba Eban
Tragedy is the difference between what is and what could have been. (Abba Eban)
It is our experience that political leaders do not always mean the opposite of what they say.
Abba Eban
Consensus is what many people say in chorus but do not believe as individuals.
Abba Eban
Lest Arab governments be tempted out of sheer routine to rush into impulsive rejection, let me suggest that tragedy is not what men suffer but what they miss.
Abba Eban
The Jews are the living embodiment of the minority, the constant reminder of what duties societies owe their minorities, whoever they might be.
Abba Eban