---
title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: diplomacy is also the art of postponing…"
description: "\"“diplomacy is also the art of postponing decisions until the problems resolve themselves.”\" — Paulo Coelho"
image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a72/paulo-coelho-10_art_diplomacy-is-also-the-art-of-postponing_1159900.jpg"
---

#  diplomacy is also the art of postponing decisions until…

![“diplomacy is also the art of postponing decisions until the problems resolve themselves.” quote by Paulo Coelho](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a72/paulo-coelho-10_art_diplomacy-is-also-the-art-of-postponing_1159900.jpg)   [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a72/paulo-coelho-10_art_diplomacy-is-also-the-art-of-postponing_1159900.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a72/paulo-coelho-10_art_diplomacy-is-also-the-art-of-postponing_1159900.jpg)

> ““diplomacy is also the art of postponing decisions until the problems resolve themselves.””

[Paulo Coelho](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paulo-coelho/)

## About This Quote

This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation.

Diplomacy often involves delaying decisions, hoping issues resolve on their own.

**In simple terms:** Diplomacy can mean waiting for problems to fix themselves.

Key Takeaway

Recognize when postponement is strategic versus avoidance.

Themes

diplomacy decision‑making patience

Mood

cautious thoughtful

Type

strategic philosophical

When to use this quote

- negotiation meetings
- international crises
- organizational disputes

Key Concepts

strategic delay conflict resolution political tactics

Questions to Reflect On

- When is waiting a viable strategy?
- How do you balance patience with proactive action?

A Different Perspective

Delaying can worsen problems if underlying issues remain unaddressed.

★ ★ ★ ★ ★   No ratings yet

[Art](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/art/) [Art Postponing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/art-postponing-578519/) [Diplomacy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/diplomacy/) [Diplomacy Art](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/diplomacy-art-807301/) [Peacebuilding](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/peacebuilding/) [Postponing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/postponing/) [Postponing Decisions](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/postponing-decisions-578518/) [Problems Resolve](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/problems-resolve-3316980/)

## Related quotes

> [Politics is the art of postponing decisions until they are no longer relevant.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henri-queuille/politics-is-the-art-of-postponing-decisions-until-they-are-no-longer/)

[Henri Queuille](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henri-queuille/)

> [“Most people master the art of postponing the start.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mokokoma-mokhonoana/most-people-master-the-art-of-postponing-the-start/)

[Mokokoma Mokhonoana](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mokokoma-mokhonoana/)

> [Religion is something people do together to face urgent problems and to resolve them by appealing to truths that seem self-evident to them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jacob-neusner/religion-is-something-people-do-together-to-face-urgent-problems-and/)

[Jacob Neusner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jacob-neusner/)

> [Diplomacy, n. is the art of letting somebody else have your way.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-frost/diplomacy-n-is-the-art-of-letting-somebody-else-have-your-way/)

[David Frost](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-frost/)

> [Diplomacy is the art of telling plain truths without giving offense.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/winston-churchill/diplomacy-is-the-art-of-telling-plain-truths-without-giving-offense/)

[Winston Churchill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/winston-churchill/)

> [“Diplomacy is the art of saying "Nice doggie" while looking for a bigger stick.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sean-keogh/diplomacy-is-the-art-of-saying-nice-doggie-while-looking-for-a-bigger/)

[Sean Keogh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sean-keogh/)

> [Diplomacy is the art of saying "Nice doggie!"... till you can find a rock.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/diplomacy-is-the-art-of-saying-nice-doggie-till-you-can-find-a-rock/)

[Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/)

> [Diplomacy is the art of saying 'Nice doggie' until you can find a rock.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/will-rogers/diplomacy-is-the-art-of-saying-nice-doggie-until-you-can-find-a-rock/)

[Will Rogers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/will-rogers/)

> [Diplomacy is the art of saying "Nice Doggie!" till you can find a stick.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wynn-catlin/diplomacy-is-the-art-of-saying-nice-doggie-till-you-can-find-a-stick/)

[Wynn Catlin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wynn-catlin/)

> [“Diplomacy is the art of letting other people have your way.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/daniele-var/diplomacy-is-the-art-of-letting-other-people-have-your-way/)

[Daniele Varè](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/daniele-var/)

> [Diplomacy is the art of telling people to go to hell in such a way that they ask for directions.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/diplomacy-is-the-art-of-telling-people-to-go-to-hell-in-such-a-way/)

[Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/)

> [Diplomacy is the art of letting someone have your way.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/daniele-var/diplomacy-is-the-art-of-letting-someone-have-your-way/)

[Daniele Vare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/daniele-var/)

> [Diplomacy is the art of sending someone to hell in the way that they are looking forward to it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/diplomacy-is-the-art-of-sending-someone-to-hell-in-the-way-that-they/)

[Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/)

> [“Diplomacy is the art of letting someone else have your way.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/daniele-var/diplomacy-is-the-art-of-letting-someone-else-have-your-way/)

[Daniele Vare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/daniele-var/)

> [Postponing doing the really interesting things in life for later, when you don't have the energy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paulo-coelho/postponing-doing-the-really-interesting-things-in-life-for-later-when/)

[Paulo Coelho](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paulo-coelho/)

## More by Paulo Coelho

> [I have inside me the winds, the deserts, the oceans, the stars, and everything created in the universe. We were all made by the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paulo-coelho/i-have-inside-me-the-winds-the-deserts-the-oceans-the-stars-and/)

[Paulo Coelho](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paulo-coelho/)

> [Love will never separate a man from his personal legend.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paulo-coelho/love-will-never-separate-a-man-from-his-personal-legend/)

[Paulo Coelho](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paulo-coelho/)

> [The world has a soul and whoever understands that soul can also understand the language of many things.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paulo-coelho/the-world-has-a-soul-and-whoever-understands-that-soul-can-also/)

[Paulo Coelho](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paulo-coelho/)

> [You dont choose your life; it chooses you. Theres no point asking why life has reserved certain joys or griefs, you just accept them…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paulo-coelho/you-dont-choose-your-life-it-chooses-you-theres-no-point-asking-why/)

[Paulo Coelho](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paulo-coelho/)

> [To love is to be in communion with the other and to discover in that other the spark of God.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paulo-coelho/to-love-is-to-be-in-communion-with-the-other-and-to-discover-in-that/)

[Paulo Coelho](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paulo-coelho/)

> [It is not enough to dream of the Impossible Love - it is necessary to conquer it too.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paulo-coelho/it-is-not-enough-to-dream-of-the-impossible-love-it-is-necessary-to/)

[Paulo Coelho](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paulo-coelho/)

> [Eat when it is time to eat. And walk when it is time to walk.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paulo-coelho/eat-when-it-is-time-to-eat-and-walk-when-it-is-time-to-walk/)

[Paulo Coelho](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paulo-coelho/)

> [People are reading more and writing more because of the internet. So the virtual world is a way for me to listen to my…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paulo-coelho/people-are-reading-more-and-writing-more-because-of-the-internet-so/)

[Paulo Coelho](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paulo-coelho/)

> [“Joy is like sex – it begins and ends. I want pleasure. I want to be contended, but happiness? I no longer fall into…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paulo-coelho/joy-is-like-sex-it-begins-and-ends-i-want-pleasure-i-want-to-be/)

[Paulo Coelho](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paulo-coelho/)

> [“Trudi se da zivis, sjecanja su za starije ljude.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paulo-coelho/trudi-se-da-zivis-sjecanja-su-za-starije-ljude/)

[Paulo Coelho](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paulo-coelho/)

> [I've always been a very restless person. I work hard, spend too much time looking after my son, I dance like a mad thing,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paulo-coelho/i-ve-always-been-a-very-restless-person-i-work-hard-spend-too-much/)

[Paulo Coelho](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paulo-coelho/)

> [When someone leaves, it's because someone else is about to arrive.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paulo-coelho/when-someone-leaves-it-s-because-someone-else-is-about-to-arrive/)

[Paulo Coelho](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paulo-coelho/)

> [The past and the future become unimportant. There is only that moment, and the incredible certainty that everything under the sun has been written…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paulo-coelho/the-past-and-the-future-become-unimportant-there-is-only-that-moment/)

[Paulo Coelho](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paulo-coelho/)

> [She didn't need to understand the meaning of life; it was enough to find someone who did, and then fall asleep in his arms…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paulo-coelho/she-didn-t-need-to-understand-the-meaning-of-life-it-was-enough-to/)

[Paulo Coelho](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paulo-coelho/)

> [“The simpler the pose, the better; the more sober, the more beautiful.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paulo-coelho/the-simpler-the-pose-the-better-the-more-sober-the-more-beautiful/)

[Paulo Coelho](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paulo-coelho/)

[Explore all 3,665 Paulo Coelho quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paulo-coelho/)

## More Art quotes

> [True works of art contain their own theory and give us the measurement according to which we should judge them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/true-works-of-art-contain-their-own-theory-and-give-us-the/)

[Johann Wolfgang von Goethe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/)

> [Before Noah, men having only water to drink, could not find the truth. Accordingly...they became abominably wicked, and they were justly exterminated by the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/benjamin-franklin/before-noah-men-having-only-water-to-drink-could-not-find-the-truth/)

[Benjamin Franklin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/benjamin-franklin/)

> [“Hear the sum of the whole matter in the compass of one brief word — every art possessed by man comes from Prometheus.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aeschylus/hear-the-sum-of-the-whole-matter-in-the-compass-of-one-brief-word/)

[Aeschylus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aeschylus/)

> [I think most artists feel like they're outside society - no matter how many accolades they receive, or how much money is in your…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aaron-rose/i-think-most-artists-feel-like-they-re-outside-society-no-matter-how/)

[Aaron Rose](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aaron-rose/)

> [The capacity to be puzzled is the premise of all creation, be it in art or in science.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/erich-fromm/the-capacity-to-be-puzzled-is-the-premise-of-all-creation-be-it-in/)

[Erich Fromm](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/erich-fromm/)

> [That's the great secret of creativity. You treat ideas like cats: you make them follow you.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ray-bradbury/that-s-the-great-secret-of-creativity-you-treat-ideas-like-cats-you/)

[Ray Bradbury](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ray-bradbury/)

> [“So, really," continued Jacob as if this were perfectly normal to expound on art in these circumstances, "when you think about it, the artists…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/justina-chen-headley/so-really-continued-jacob-as-if-this-were-perfectly-normal-to-expound/)

[Justina Chen Headley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/justina-chen-headley/)

> [“There are two options in art; either to adopt philosophical life by dissecting art, or to write your own philosophical life and claim it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/taf-teh/there-are-two-options-in-art-either-to-adopt-philosophical-life-by/)

[Taf Teh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/taf-teh/)

> [The house has to serve comfort. The work of art is revolutionary; the house is conservative.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adolf-loos/the-house-has-to-serve-comfort-the-work-of-art-is-revolutionary-the/)

[Adolf Loos](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adolf-loos/)

> [During human progress, every science is evolved out of its corresponding art.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/herbert-spencer/during-human-progress-every-science-is-evolved-out-of-its/)

[Herbert Spencer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/herbert-spencer/)

> [In literature and art memory is a synonym for invention. It is the life-blood of imagination, which faints and dies when the veins are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-aris-willmott/in-literature-and-art-memory-is-a-synonym-for-invention-it-is-the/)

[Robert Aris Willmott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-aris-willmott/)

> [I think a business guy is different from an artist. They walk different paths. Artists create the best outputs when they're having fun. And…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/g-dragon/i-think-a-business-guy-is-different-from-an-artist-they-walk/)

[G-Dragon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/g-dragon/)

> [“The only thing--I tell you this straight from the heart--that disgusts me in Salzburg is that one can't have any proper social intercourse with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wolfgang-amadeus-mozart/the-only-thing-i-tell-you-this-straight-from-the-heart-that-disgusts/)

[Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wolfgang-amadeus-mozart/)

> [The sublime in art is the attempt to express the infinite without finding in the realm of phenomena any object which proves itself fitting…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/georg-wilhelm-friedrich-hegel/the-sublime-in-art-is-the-attempt-to-express-the-infinite-without/)

[Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/georg-wilhelm-friedrich-hegel/)

> [Art isn't done to decorate apartments, but to wage war against the enemy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pablo-picasso/art-isn-t-done-to-decorate-apartments-but-to-wage-war-against-the/)

[Pablo Picasso](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pablo-picasso/)

[Browse all 48,643 Art quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/art/)

```json
{
    "@context": "https://schema.org",
    "@graph": [
        {
            "@type": "Quotation",
            "text": "“diplomacy is also the art of postponing decisions until the problems resolve themselves.”",
            "creator": {
                "@type": "Person",
                "name": "Paulo Coelho"
            },
            "isPartOf": {
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website"
            },
            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paulo-coelho/diplomacy-is-also-the-art-of-postponing-decisions-until-the-problems/",
            "about": {
                "@type": "Thing",
                "name": "Art"
            },
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paulo-coelho/diplomacy-is-also-the-art-of-postponing-decisions-until-the-problems/#quotation",
            "image": {
                "@type": "ImageObject",
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a72/paulo-coelho-10_art_diplomacy-is-also-the-art-of-postponing_1159900.jpg",
                "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a72/paulo-coelho-10_art_diplomacy-is-also-the-art-of-postponing_1159900.jpg",
                "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a72/paulo-coelho-10_art_diplomacy-is-also-the-art-of-postponing_1159900.jpg",
                "width": 1080,
                "height": 1080,
                "caption": "“diplomacy is also the art of postponing decisions until the problems resolve themselves.” — Paulo Coelho",
                "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes",
                "creator": {
                    "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization"
                }
            }
        },
        {
            "@type": "BreadcrumbList",
            "itemListElement": [
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 1,
                    "name": "Home",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/"
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 2,
                    "name": "Quotes",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/"
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 3,
                    "name": "Paulo Coelho",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paulo-coelho/"
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 4,
                    "name": "“diplomacy is also the art of...",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paulo-coelho/diplomacy-is-also-the-art-of-postponing-decisions-until-the-problems/"
                }
            ],
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paulo-coelho/diplomacy-is-also-the-art-of-postponing-decisions-until-the-problems/#breadcrumb"
        },
        {
            "@type": "WebSite",
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website",
            "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes",
            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/",
            "publisher": {
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization"
            }
        },
        {
            "@type": "Organization",
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization",
            "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes",
            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/",
            "logo": {
                "@type": "ImageObject",
                "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png",
                "width": 512,
                "height": 512
            }
        }
    ]
}
```
