Quotes about negotiation

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

— Dean Acheson

The one sure way to conciliate a tiger is to allow oneself to be devoured.

— Konrad Adenauer

The fellow who says he'll meet you halfway usually thinks he's standing on the dividing line.

— Orlando A. Battista

When a man says that he approves something in principal, it means he hasn't the slightest intention of putting it in practice.

— Otto Von Bismarck

Grant graciously what you cannot refuse safely and conciliate those you cannot conquer.

— Charles Caleb Colton

Most people I ask little from. I try to give them much, and expect nothing in return and I do very well in the bargain.

— Francois FeNelon

Negotiating means getting the best of your opponent.

— Marvin Gaye

My father said: You must never try to make all the money that's in a deal. Let the other fellow make some money too, because if you have a reputation for always making all the money, you won't have many deals.

— J. Paul Getty

It is a trick among the dishonest to offer sacrifices that are not needed, or not possible, to avoid making those that are required.

— Ivan Goncharov

The correct strategy for Americans negotiating with Japanese or other foreign clients is a Japanese strategy: ask questions. When you think you understand, ask more questions. Carefully feel for pressure points. If an impasse is reached, don't pressure. Suggest a recess or another meeting.

— John L. Graham

A grievance is most poignant when almost redressed.

— Eric Hoffer

Prepare by knowing your walk away [conditions] and by building the number of variables you can work with during the negotiation... you need to have a walk away... a combination of price, terms, and deliverables that represents the least you will accept. Without one, you have no negotiating road map.

— Keiser

If you are planning on doing business with someone again, don't be too tough in the negotiations. If you're going to skin a cat, don't keep it as a house cat.

— Marvin S. Levin

Jaw-jaw is better than war-war.

— Harold Macmillan

Only free men can negotiate. Prisoners cannot enter into contracts.

— Nelson Mandela

Never forget the power of silence, that massively disconcerting pause which goes on and on and may at last induce an opponent to babble and backtrack nervously.

— Lance Morrow

The lesson of all history warns us that we should negotiate only when our military superiority is so convincing that we can achieve our objective at the conference table, and deny the aggressor theirs.

— Richard M. Nixon

You're in a much better position to talk with people when they approach you than when you approach them.

— Peace Pilgrim

Buying is cheaper than asking.

— German Proverb

A miser and a liar bargain quickly.

— Greek Proverb

The go-between wears out a thousand sandals.

— Japanese Proverb

We're eyeball to eyeball and the other fellow just blinked.

— Dean Rusk

You must be fully prepared to lose a great deal in order to make a great deal.

— Saying

We were not born to sue, but to command.

— William Shakespeare