The quotations are arranged by author name. Current counts: Authors: 8,146. Quotations: 38,970 Select the first character of the author's last name that you want to look at: A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

---

Dean Acheson

b: Middletown, Connecticut., Apr 11, 1893

d: Sandy Spring, Maryland., Oct 12, 1971

American. Government Official. Truman's secretary of state, 1949-53; primary creator of NATO; won Pulitzer for Present at the Creation, 1969.

---

A memorandum is not written to inform the reader, but to protect the writer.

A verbal contract isn't worth the paper its printed on.

Acheson's Rule: A memorandum is written not to inform the reader but to protect the writer.

Always remember that the future comes one day at a time.

Americans assume Canada to be bestowed as a right and accept this bounty, as they do air, without thought or appreciation.

Between 9 and 10 AM the American radio is concerned almost exclusively with love. It seems a little like ending breakfast with a stiff bourbon.

Controversial proposals, once accepted, soon become hallowed.

Great Britain has lost an empire and has not yet found a role.

I don't want any yes-men around me. I want everybody to tell me the truth even if it costs them their jobs.

I have a curious and apprehensive feeling as I watch JFK that he is sort of an Indian snake charmer.

I learned from the example of my father that the manner in which one endures what must be endured is more important than the thing that must be endured.

If I could drop dead right now, I'd be the happiest man alive.

If we learn the art of yielding what must be yielded to the changing present, we can save the best of the past.

In view of the fact that God limited the intelligence of man, it seems unfair that he did not also limit his stupidity.

It's worse than immoral, it's a mistake. (on Vietnam)

Negotiating in the classic diplomatic sense assumes parties more anxious to agree than to disagree.

The first requirement of a statesman is that he be dull.

The first requirement of a statesman is that he be dull. This is not always easy to achieve.

The future comes one day at a time.

The greatest mistake I made was not to die in office.

The thing to remember is that that the future comes one day at a time.

Time spent in the advertising business seems to create a permanent deformity like the Chinese habit of foot-binding.

Washington is like a self-sealing tank on a military aircraft. When a bullet passes through, it closes up.

We have actively sought and are actively seeking to make the United Nations an effective instrument of international cooperation.