Abba Eban Quotes

History teaches us that men and nations behave wisely once they have exhausted all other alternatives.

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.

Palestinians never miss an opportunity to miss an opportunity.

A consensus means that everyone agrees to say collectively what no one believes individually.

Israel is not an aviary.

You can't achieve anything without getting in someone's way. You can't be detached and effective.

The Jews are the living embodiment of the minority, the constant reminder of what duties societies owe their minorities, whoever they might be.

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.

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.

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.

A nation writes its history in the image of its ideal.

His ignorance is encyclopedic.

Tragedy is the difference between what is and what could have been.

It is our experience that political leaders do not always mean the opposite of what they say.

Consensus is what many people say in chorus but do not believe as individuals.

Playing the game I have learned the meaning of humility. It has given me an understanding of futility of the human effort.

Tragedy is not what men suffer but what they miss.

Human beings act intelligently only after they have exhausted the alternatives

Science is not a sacred cow. Science is a horse. Don’t worship it. Feed it. [Addressing a group of prospective contributors to an Israeli scientific research program]

Better to be disliked than pitied.

Salvation, the prophets tell us, is preconditioned by repentance. The redeeming act of God waits upon man's initiative.

It [idolatry] nourishes mans ambition to domineer over his fellow man. Idolatry, therefore, is the source of all social and moral evil in the world.

A statesman who keeps his ear permanently glued to the ground will have neither elegance of posture nor flexibility of movement.

History teaches usthat men and nationsonly behave wiselyonce they have exhaustedall other alternatives."--