Abba Eban Quotes

Our Intention To Regard The Closing Of The Straits As A Casus Belli Was Communicated...to The Foreign Ministers Of Those States Which Had Supported International Navigation In The Straits In 1957 And Thereafter. There Can Be No Doubt That These Warnings Reached Cairo. One Thing Was Now Clear. If Nasser Imposed A Blockade, The Explosion Would Ensue Not From 'miscalculation', But From An Open-eyed And Conscious Readiness For War.

Tragedy Is Not What Men Suffer But What They Miss.

A Statesman Who Keeps His Ear Permanently Glued To The Ground Will Have Neither Elegance Of Posture Nor Flexibility Of Movement.

Salvation, The Prophets Tell Us, Is Preconditioned By Repentance. The Redeeming Act Of God Waits Upon Man's Initiative.

It [idolatry] Nourishes Mans Ambition To Domineer Over His Fellow Man. Idolatry, Therefore, Is The Source Of All Social And Moral Evil In The World.

Playing The Game I Have Learned The Meaning Of Humility. It Has Given Me An Understanding Of Futility Of The Human Effort.

The Jews Are The Living Embodiment Of The Minority, The Constant Reminder Of What Duties Societies Owe Their Minorities, Whoever They Might Be.

Lest Arab Governments Be Tempted Out Of Sheer Routine To Rush Into Impulsive Rejection, Let Me Suggest That Tragedy Is Not What Men Suffer But What They Miss.

Consensus Is What Many People Say In Chorus But Do Not Believe As Individuals.

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]

A Nation Writes Its History In The Image Of Its Ideal.

Human Beings Act Intelligently Only After They Have Exhausted The Alternatives