Quotes from 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.

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.

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

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

He has a splendid repertoire of 500 words. Why does he insist on using only 150?

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

His ignorance is encyclopedic.

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

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

There is no difference whatever between anti-Semitism and the denial of Israel's statehood. Classical anti-Semitism denies the equal right of Jews as citizens within society. Anti-Zionism denies the equal rights of the Jewish people its lawful sovereignty within the community of nations. The common principle in the two cases is discrimination." New York Times, 1975

If Algeria introduced a resolution 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.

They never miss an opportunity to miss an opportunity

When all else fails, men turn to reason.

You can always count on the American people to do the right thing, after they have exhausted all other possibilities.

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

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.

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.

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]

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

Better to be disliked than pitied.

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

Men and nations behave wisely once they have exhausted all the other alternatives.