Quote of the day 27th June 2020

I thought of this quote which is often attributed to Winston Churchill this week, when I was asked to write a letter which could easily be seen as a rebuke but do it "diplomatically."

 “Diplomacy is the art of telling people to go to hell in such a way that they ask for directions.”

This is one of a couple of versions of the quote often attributed to Sir Winston, but I gather there is no evidence that he actually said it.

The Quote Investigator website suggests that travel writer and humorist Caskie Stinnett is most likely to have originated it, in the following verified form:

"A diplomat is a person who can tell you to go to hell in such a way that you actually look forward to the trip."

Comments

Jim said…
I bought myself an EV this week. The wife has my old hybrid now. We are planning to go to Manchester and back (well Cheadle Hulme) tomorrow in the EV. Its first decent run, a round trip of around 350miles with the running around to see her family down there.

Now a decent trip in an EV i have always imagined hell, but time will tell i guess, and I am really looking forward to doing it.
4:14 pm
Chris Whiteside said…
Have a safe journey.
6:53 pm
Jim said…
Thanks, I did. EV is certainly the future.
5:35 pm
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