A World Restored Quotes

“History is the memory of States.”
― Henry Kissinger, A World Restored: Metternich, Castlereagh and the Problems of Peace, 1812-1822

“Whenever peace – conceived as the avoidance of war – has been the primary objective of a power or a group of powers, the international system has been at the mercy of the most ruthless member of the international community. Whenever the international order has acknowledged that certain principles could not be compromised even for the sake of peace, stability based on an equilibrium of forces was at least conceivable.”
― Henry Kissinger, A World Restored: Metternich, Castlereagh and the Problems of Peace, 1812-1822

“Whenever peace--conceived as the avoidance of war--has been the primary objective of a power or a group of powers, the international system has been at the mercy of the most ruthless member of the international community.”
― Henry Kissinger, A World Restored: Metternich, Castlereagh and The Problems of Pea: Metternich, Castlereagh and the Problems of Peace, 1812-22 by Henry Kissinger

“The logic of war is power, and power has no inherent limit. The logic of peace is proportion, and proportion implies limitation.”
― Henry Kissinger, A World Restored: Metternich, Castlereagh and The Problems of Pea: Metternich, Castlereagh and the Problems of Peace, 1812-22 by Henry Kissinger

“Since it is impossible to be prepared for all eventualities, the assumption of the opponent's perfect flexibility leads to paralysis of action”
― Henry Kissinger, A World Restored: Metternich, Castlereagh and the Problems of Peace, 1812-1822

“Profound policy thrives on perpetual creation, on a constant re-definition of goals. Good administration thrives on routine, the definition of relationships which can survive mediocrity. Policy involves an adjustment of risks; administration an avoidance of deviation. ...The attempt to conduct policy bureaucratically leads to a quest for calculability which tends to become a prisoner of events.”
― Henry Kissinger, A World Restored: Metternich, Castlereagh and the Problems of Peace, 1812-22

“The reaction against Metternich's smug self-satisfaction and rigid conservatism has tended... to take the form of denying the reality of his achievements.”
― Henry Kissinger, A World Restored: Metternich, Castlereagh and the Problems of Peace, 1812-1822