---
title: "2 Astonishing Quotes By Richard Holbrooke"
description: "2 Astonishing quotes by Richard Holbrooke. Plus more from Richard Holbrooke and more Astonishing sayings from other authors."
image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/aab/richard-holbrooke-16551_astonishing_i-tell-you-he-milosevic-continued-izetbe_1554196.png"
---

> [ "I tell you," he \[Milosevic\] continued, "Izetbegovic has earned Sarajevo by not abandoning it. He's one tough guy. It's his". These words were probably the most astonishing and unexpected of the conference. ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-holbrooke/i-tell-you-he-milosevic-continued-izetbegovic-has-earned-sarajevo-by/)

[Richard Holbrooke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-holbrooke/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/aab/richard-holbrooke-16551_astonishing_i-tell-you-he-milosevic-continued-izetbe_1554196.png)

> [MEMRI allows an audience far beyond the Arabic-speaking world to observe the wide variety of Arab voices speaking through the media, schoolbooks, and pulpits to their own people. What one hears is often astonishing, sometimes frightening, and always important. Most…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-holbrooke/memri-allows-an-audience-far-beyond-the-arabic-speaking-world-to/)

[Richard Holbrooke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-holbrooke/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/85d/richard-holbrooke-16551_ancient_memri-allows-an-audience-far-beyond-the_2972220.jpg)

## More by Richard Holbrooke

> [It's an improvisation on a theme. You know where you want to go, but you don't know how to get there. It's not linear.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-holbrooke/it-s-an-improvisation-on-a-theme-you-know-where-you-want-to-go-but/)

[Richard Holbrooke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-holbrooke/)

> [There are certain kinds of second-tier confrontations which the U.S. does not need to get directly involved in. However, even in the second tier…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-holbrooke/there-are-certain-kinds-of-second-tier-confrontations-which-the-u-s/)

[Richard Holbrooke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-holbrooke/)

> [I think Americans understand that in Afghanistan, unlike in Iraq and Vietnam, we are fighting an enemy allied with the people who attacked us…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-holbrooke/i-think-americans-understand-that-in-afghanistan-unlike-in-iraq-and/)

[Richard Holbrooke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-holbrooke/)

> [You have to test your hypothesis against other theories. Certainty in the face of complex situations is very dangerous.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-holbrooke/you-have-to-test-your-hypothesis-against-other-theories-certainty-in/)

[Richard Holbrooke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-holbrooke/)

> [United Nations peacekeepers are going all over the world spreading AIDS even while they're trying to bring peace. What a supreme irony.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-holbrooke/united-nations-peacekeepers-are-going-all-over-the-world-spreading/)

[Richard Holbrooke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-holbrooke/)

> [Diplomacy is like jazz: endless variations on a theme.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-holbrooke/diplomacy-is-like-jazz-endless-variations-on-a-theme/)

[Richard Holbrooke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-holbrooke/)

> [In diplomacy, as in life itself, one often learns more from failures than from successes. Triumphs will seem, in retrospect, to be foreordained, a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-holbrooke/in-diplomacy-as-in-life-itself-one-often-learns-more-from-failures/)

[Richard Holbrooke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-holbrooke/)

> [The United States supports the reintegration of people who have fought with the Taliban into Afghan society provided they: one, renounce al Qaeda, two,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-holbrooke/the-united-states-supports-the-reintegration-of-people-who-have/)

[Richard Holbrooke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-holbrooke/)

> [World War I was not inevitable, as many historians say. It could have been avoided, and it was a diplomatically botched negotiation.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-holbrooke/world-war-i-was-not-inevitable-as-many-historians-say-it-could-have/)

[Richard Holbrooke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-holbrooke/)

> [You will never catch up with the spread of AIDS no matter how much money, no matter how many antiretrovirals are put into the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-holbrooke/you-will-never-catch-up-with-the-spread-of-aids-no-matter-how-much/)

[Richard Holbrooke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-holbrooke/)

> [A peace deal requires agreements, and you don't make agreements with your friends, you make agreements with your enemies.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-holbrooke/a-peace-deal-requires-agreements-and-you-don-t-make-agreements-with/)

[Richard Holbrooke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-holbrooke/)

> [We should not be surprised that democracy is imperfect even in Western countries.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-holbrooke/we-should-not-be-surprised-that-democracy-is-imperfect-even-in/)

[Richard Holbrooke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-holbrooke/)

> [Bureaucracies have a natural tendency not to cooperate, coordinate or consolidate with each other. They won't cooperate with each other - unless they are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-holbrooke/bureaucracies-have-a-natural-tendency-not-to-cooperate-coordinate-or/)

[Richard Holbrooke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-holbrooke/)

> [A world without the United Nations or with a paralyzed United Nations would be far more costly to all of us and far more…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-holbrooke/a-world-without-the-united-nations-or-with-a-paralyzed-united-nations/)

[Richard Holbrooke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-holbrooke/)

> [I'm not a wide-eyed imperialist who wants to see Americans manning outposts all over the world. Not outposts to freedom in the cold war…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-holbrooke/i-m-not-a-wide-eyed-imperialist-who-wants-to-see-americans-manning/)

[Richard Holbrooke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-holbrooke/)

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