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Moderation is a virtue only in those who are thought to have an alternative.

A Quote By Henry Kissinger

Henry Kissinger

ModerationPerceptionVirtue
Profile Image Of Henry Kissinger
Henry Kissinger
Former US Secretary Of State And National Security Advisor
Henry Kissinger, Nobel laureate and former U.S. Secretary of State, played a key role in shaping 20th-century diplomacy with a realpolitik approach.
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Explanation Of The Quote

Synopsis
This quote challenges the virtue of moderation, suggesting that it may only be deemed virtuous when there are perceived alternatives. It implies that moderation is relative to circumstances and choices.
Topics:ModerationPerceptionVirtue

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Facts are rarely self-explanatory; their significance, analysis, and interpretation—at least in the foreign policy world—depend on context and relevance.
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The reason that university politics is so vicious is because stakes are so small.
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The state is a fragile organization, and the statesman does not have the moral right to risk its survival on ethical restraint.
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It is not often that nations learn from the past,even rarer that they draw the correct conclusions from it.
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Behind the slogans lay an intellectual vacuum.
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Every victory is only the price of admission to a more difficult problem.
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A country that demands moral perfection in its foreign policy will achieve neither perfection nor security.
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