A memorandum is written not to inform the reader but to protect the writer.
Dean Acheson

Always remember that the future comes one day at a time.
Dean Acheson

Controversial proposals, once accepted, soon become hallowed.
Dean Acheson

Great Britain has lost an empire and has not yet found a role.
Dean Acheson

I learned from the example of my father that the manner in which one endures what must be endured is more important than the thing that must be endured.
Dean Acheson

I will undoubtedly have to seek what is happily known as gainful employment, which I am glad to say does not describe holding public office.
Dean Acheson

If we learn the art of yielding what must be yielded to the changing present, we can save the best of the past.
Dean Acheson

It is worse than immoral, it's a mistake.
Dean Acheson

Negotiating in the classic diplomatic sense assumes parties more anxious to agree than to disagree.
Dean Acheson

Negotiation in the classic diplomatic sense assumes parties more anxious to agree than to disagree.
Dean Acheson

No people in history have ever survived who thought they could protect their freedom by making themselves inoffensive to their enemies.
Dean Acheson

The best thing about the future is that it comes only one day at a time.
Dean Acheson

The first requirement of a statesman is that he be dull.
Dean Acheson

The future comes one day at a time.
Dean Acheson

The great corrupter of public man is the ego. Looking at the mirror distracts one's attention from the problem.
Dean Acheson

The greatest mistake I made was not to die in office.
Dean Acheson

The manner in which one endures what must be endured is more important than the thing that must be endured.
Dean Acheson

The most important aspect of the relationship between the president and the secretary of state is that they both understand who is president.
Dean Acheson

Washington is like a self-sealing tank on a military aircraft. When a bullet passes through, it closes up.
Dean Acheson

We have actively sought and are actively seeking to make the United Nations an effective instrument of international cooperation.
Dean Acheson