George F. Kennan

A political society does not live to conduct foreign policy; it would be more correct to say that it conducts foreign policy…

— George F. Kennan

Russia, Russia-unwashed, backward, appealing Russia, so ashamed of your own backwardness, so orientally determined to conceal it from us by clever deceit.

— George F. Kennan

We are, if territory and population be looked at together, one of the great countries of the world - a monster country,…

— George F. Kennan

I lived, particularly in childhood but with lessening intensity right on to middle age, in a world that was peculiarly and intimately…

— George F. Kennan

A guest of one's time and not a member of the household.

— George F. Kennan

Fig leaves of democratic procedure to hide the nakedness of Stalinist dictatorship.

— George F. Kennan

Popular revolt against a ruthless, experienced modern dictatorship, which enjoys a monopoly over weapons and communications, ... is simply not a possibility…

— George F. Kennan

Public opinion, or what passes for public opinion, is not invariably a moderating force in the jungle of politics.

— George F. Kennan

Were the Soviet Union to sink tomorrow under the waters of the ocean, the American military-industrial establishment would have to go on,…

— George F. Kennan

A foreign policy aimed at the achievement of total security is the one thing I can think of that is entirely capable…

— George F. Kennan

A doctrine is something that pins you down to a given mode of conduct and dozens of situations which you cannot foresee,…

— George F. Kennan

The very concept of history implies the scholar and the reader. Without a generation of civilized people to study history, to preserve…

— George F. Kennan

Russia, Russia - unwashed, backward, appealing Russia, so ashamed of your own backwardness, so orientally determined to conceal it from us by…

— George F. Kennan

This is a big world. Billions - rapidly increasing billions - of people live outside our borders. Obviously, a great number of…

— George F. Kennan

The United States should not jump around like an elephant frightened by a mouse.

— George F. Kennan

World communism is like [a] malignant parasite which feeds on diseased tissue

— George F. Kennan

The accords were fig leaves of democratic procedure to hide the nakedness of Stalinist dictatorship.

— George F. Kennan

The best thing we can do if we want the Russians to let us be Americans is to let the Russians be…

— George F. Kennan

Above all, it behooves us to repress, and if possible to extinguish once and for all, our inveterate tendency to judge others…

— George F. Kennan

Instruments of coercion, once created, have a tendency to find their own natural masters.

— George F. Kennan

Like a graceful vase, a cat, even when motionless, seems to flow.

— George F. Kennan

It is clear that the main element of any United States policy toward the Soviet Union must be that of long-term, patient…

— George F. Kennan

We should cease to talk about vague and unreal objectives such as human rights, the raising of the living standards, and democratization.…

— George F. Kennan

One sometimes feels a guest of one's time and not a member of its household.

— George F. Kennan

The best an American can look forward to is the lonely pleasure of one who stands at long last on a chilly…

— George F. Kennan