Warren Christopher Quotes

To anyone who has served in Washington, there is something oddly familiar about [having your portrait painted]. First, you're painted into a corner, then you're hung out to dry and, finally, you're framed.

Environmental degradation, overpopulation, refugees, narcotics, terrorism, world crime movements, and organized crime are worldwide problems that don't stop at a nation's borders.

Hamas, the opponents of Arafat, the opponents of peace, urged a boycott of the election, and yet there was an 85 percent turnout where Hamas is supposed to be strong. Isnt that really quite incredible?

My father was a small-town banker. He became very ill when I was 10 years old, and we went to California three years later in an attempt to recover his health, which never happened.

When I was a very young lawyer, I had a senior partner who advised me never to get mad, except on purpose.

I'm very much in favor of focused responsibility, and so in the main areas that I'm worried about, I try to have a single person who is basically the key person in that area.

It will be undertaken, of course, in the June or July summit, and then to bring NATO closer to Russia or vice versa is a way to move toward integration - toward the integration of Europe.

I think before 1997 is over, NATO will have taken giant strides in what's called adaptation, the discussions about bringing the French fully into the NATO forces.

My clerkship with Justice Douglas was tremendously important. He told me, Christopher, get out into the stream of history and see what happens. I've tried to follow that advice.

The United States has done more for the war crimes tribunal than any other country in the world. We're turning over all the information we have, including intelligence information.

I think there is a good deal of promise in those discussions as well. I think there is a range of matters that might be discussed between NATO and Russia that can provide a mechanism for talking through these issues, a way to give reassurance on these issues.

I was born in a very small town in North Dakota, a town of only about 350 people. I lived there until I was 13. It was a marvelous advantage to grow up in a small town where you knew everybody.

Sometimes you have to learn how to give the right answer to the wrong question.

Only two countries in this hemisphere are not democratic, but many countries in both Central and South America, and in the Caribbean, are really fragile democracies.

One always wonders about roads not taken.

The Palestinian election is something that was really a turning point. It's a mandate for peace.

Despite the demands of this job, one of the things my wife and I try to do is to spend time together alone. And one of the things we really enjoy doing together is seeing a good movie.

I wish the meeting had been as good as the lunch.

It's very important to always put things in their historical contexts. It teaches important lessons about the country in question.

I ask the Philippines Government to put an end to journalists' killings by giving journalists' safety the priority it deserves.

We see considerable strain in Russia, and that's obviously a matter of concern to us. It's in the very strong self-interest of Russia to continue on the reform path.

An independent and free media is essential to ensure democracy.

I don't want to talk about intelligence matters. I will say, however, that intelligence-community estimates should not become public in the way of this city and in the way of Congress.

It was helpful to have the American troops there in great strength. They knew there'd be consequences if they didn't move back. Now, there has been some removal of the foreign forces.

I've got many close friends, but there's an awful lot about friendship that is not demonstrative in my case.

The NATO forces will, to the extent that they have capacity, assist the war crimes tribunal.

It's very important not to lose your temper in a courtroom, or in anything else you're doing.

Both sides were supposed to release all their prisoners, those were unconditional. There was some prisoner release that took place but it's not been satisfactory.

Probably the most useful thing I can do as secretary of state is to assist the president in adapting and renewing the transnational institutions that were created after World War II.

I'm very skeptical about the good intentions of Milosevic.

It's been President Clinton's dream that we'll have finally a fully integrated Europe.