Abba Eban

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

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

“Better to be disliked than pitied.”

“Tragedy is the difference between what is and what might have been.”

“His ignorance is encyclopedic.”

“The Arabs never miss an opportunity to miss an opportunity.”

“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.”

“You can't achieve anything without getting in someone's way.”

“Peace is not a gift. It is a responsibility.”

“Men of conscience are often those who are bereaved of the power to make history, while the makers of history are often bereaved of conscience.”

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

“Science is the highest personification of the nation's spiritual power.”

“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.”