--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: But it is not, as we say when we are…" description: "\"“But it is not, as we say when we are being diplomatic, a fruitful source of inquiry.”\" — Robin McKinley" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/cf1/robin-mckinley-1591_diplomacy_but-it-is-not-as-we-say-when-we-are-bein_1402192.png" --- # But it is not, as we say when we are being diplomatic, a… ![“But it is not, as we say when we are being diplomatic, a fruitful source of inquiry.” quote by Robin McKinley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/cf1/robin-mckinley-1591_diplomacy_but-it-is-not-as-we-say-when-we-are-bein_1402192.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/cf1/robin-mckinley-1591_diplomacy_but-it-is-not-as-we-say-when-we-are-bein_1402192.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/cf1/robin-mckinley-1591_diplomacy_but-it-is-not-as-we-say-when-we-are-bein_1402192.png) > ““But it is not, as we say when we are being diplomatic, a fruitful source of inquiry.”” [Robin McKinley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robin-mckinley/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Diplomatic language can mask a lack of genuine inquiry, making discussions unproductive. **In simple terms:** Polite talk may hide real questioning. Key Takeaway Encourage honest, deep questioning. Themes communication diplomacy critical thinking Mood analytical cautious Type philosophical inspirational When to use this quote - team meetings - negotiations - academic seminars - media interviews Key Concepts politics psychology dialogue Questions to Reflect On - How can we balance tact with curiosity? - When does diplomacy hinder progress? A Different Perspective Politeness can sometimes stifle truth. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Diplomacy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/diplomacy/) [Inquiry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/inquiry/) ## Related quotes > [You cannot have a diplomatic offensive without talking.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jesse-jackson/you-cannot-have-a-diplomatic-offensive-without-talking/) [Jesse Jackson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jesse-jackson/) > [Players have a great deal of flexibility when conducting diplomatic relations with their allies.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/players-have-a-great-deal-of-flexibility-when-conducting-diplomatic/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [I'm always diplomatic when heavily outnumbered by armed strangers.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/s-m-stirling/i-m-always-diplomatic-when-heavily-outnumbered-by-armed-strangers/) [S.M. Stirling](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/s-m-stirling/) > [My father had been in the German Diplomatic Service, and although he had been in the United States since World War II and out…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hermann-eilts/my-father-had-been-in-the-german-diplomatic-service-and-although-he/) Hermann Eilts > [In running Wilson Sonsini, it's all people-to-people skills. Those people-to-people skills translate into diplomatic skills.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-roos/in-running-wilson-sonsini-it-s-all-people-to-people-skills-those/) [John Roos](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-roos/) > [I would love to see no more ghettos, but the things is, there's no diplomacy in the ghetto. They want to tell you something,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jimmy-cliff/i-would-love-to-see-no-more-ghettos-but-the-things-is-there-s-no-2/) [Jimmy Cliff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jimmy-cliff/) > [“Pick a leader who will make their citizens proud. One who will stir the hearts of the people, so that the sons and daughters…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/suzy-kassem/pick-a-leader-who-will-make-their-citizens-proud-one-who-will-stir/) [Suzy Kassem](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/suzy-kassem/) > [“Anyone who has had anything to do with the higher diplomacy is aware that diplomatic language stands in a class by itself. It is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/p-g-wodehouse/anyone-who-has-had-anything-to-do-with-the-higher-diplomacy-is-aware/) [P.G. Wodehouse](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/p-g-wodehouse/) > [My career was always about working with people, and understanding issues and problems and helping them to solve those issues and problems. How you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-roos/my-career-was-always-about-working-with-people-and-understanding/) [John Roos](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-roos/) > [Japan's diplomatic efforts could have had a broader international perspective. Relations with the U.S. are, of course, the cornerstone of Japan's diplomacy, but the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sadako-ogata/japan-s-diplomatic-efforts-could-have-had-a-broader-international/) [Sadako Ogata](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sadako-ogata/) > [Let me be clear: I'm a believer in a robust military, which is essential for backing up diplomacy. But the implication is that we…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicholas-d-kristof/let-me-be-clear-i-m-a-believer-in-a-robust-military-which-is/) [Nicholas D. Kristof](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicholas-d-kristof/) > [“Pick a leader who will keep jobs in your country by offering companies incentives to hire only within their borders, not one who allows…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/suzy-kassem/pick-a-leader-who-will-keep-jobs-in-your-country-by-offering/) [Suzy Kassem](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/suzy-kassem/) > [ \[I am\] saddened, saddened, that this president \[Bush\] failed so miserably at diplomacy that we're now forced to go to war. Saddened that we… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-daschle/i-am-saddened-saddened-that-this-president-bush-failed-so-miserably/) [Tom Daschle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-daschle/) > [This doesn't mean abandoning our values and ideals; wherever we can, it's in our interest to help foster democracy through the diplomatic and economic…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barack-obama/this-doesn-t-mean-abandoning-our-values-and-ideals-wherever-we-can-it/) [Barack Obama](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barack-obama/) > [I don't often want to speak. I try to be a reasonable person and to be diplomatic, but you go to that place and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/desmond-tutu/i-don-t-often-want-to-speak-i-try-to-be-a-reasonable-person-and-to-be/) [Desmond Tutu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/desmond-tutu/) ## More by Robin McKinley > [It's hard to look too grand when you're led by someone who looks like a pudding with legs.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robin-mckinley/it-s-hard-to-look-too-grand-when-you-re-led-by-someone-who-looks-like/) [Robin McKinley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robin-mckinley/) > [“The most serious drawback to the telling-nothing approach is that it made that much more of a mystery of what had happened, and the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robin-mckinley/the-most-serious-drawback-to-the-telling-nothing-approach-is-that-it/) [Robin McKinley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robin-mckinley/) > [The magic in that country was so thick and tenacious that it settled over the land like chalk-dust and over floors and shelves like…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robin-mckinley/the-magic-in-that-country-was-so-thick-and-tenacious-that-it-settled/) [Robin McKinley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robin-mckinley/) > [“There was something very odd about the carpet this morning… More hedgehogs? Many more hedgehogs? Positively a lake of hedgehogs?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robin-mckinley/there-was-something-very-odd-about-the-carpet-this-morning-more/) [Robin McKinley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robin-mckinley/) > [He didn't look insane or inhuman. He did look uncooperative.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robin-mckinley/he-didn-t-look-insane-or-inhuman-he-did-look-uncooperative/) [Robin McKinley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robin-mckinley/) > [People forgot; it was in the nature of people to forget, to blur boundaries, to retell stories to come out the way they wanted…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robin-mckinley/people-forgot-it-was-in-the-nature-of-people-to-forget-to-blur/) [Robin McKinley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robin-mckinley/) > [“But he hated to see his people people unhappy--because he was a good king, not because he was a nervous one--”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robin-mckinley/but-he-hated-to-see-his-people-people-unhappy-because-he-was-a-good/) [Robin McKinley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robin-mckinley/) > [ “\[the sheep\] sidled up beside him and bumped him lovingly with its head. Val looked at it sadly. "I am sorry, you ugly creature,"… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robin-mckinley/the-sheep-sidled-up-beside-him-and-bumped-him-lovingly-with-its-head/) [Robin McKinley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robin-mckinley/) > [I long for another human face just as I fear it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robin-mckinley/i-long-for-another-human-face-just-as-i-fear-it/) [Robin McKinley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robin-mckinley/) > [“Rosie hated her curly golden hair. When she was old enough to hold minimal conversations, the itsy-bitsy-cutesycoo sort of grown-ups would pull the soft…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robin-mckinley/rosie-hated-her-curly-golden-hair-when-she-was-old-enough-to-hold/) [Robin McKinley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robin-mckinley/) > [“There was, too, a reality to her new life that her old life had lacked, and she realized with a shock that she had…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robin-mckinley/there-was-too-a-reality-to-her-new-life-that-her-old-life-had-lacked/) [Robin McKinley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robin-mckinley/) > [Oh,' she said, too bone-weary to pretend: 'I would far rather that I love you as I saw yesterday I do than that I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robin-mckinley/oh-she-said-too-bone-weary-to-pretend-i-would-far-rather-that-i-love/) [Robin McKinley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robin-mckinley/) > [But I'm going to try to tell the truth. Except for the parts I'm leaving out, because there's still stuff I'm just not going…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robin-mckinley/but-i-m-going-to-try-to-tell-the-truth-except-for-the-parts-i-m/) [Robin McKinley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robin-mckinley/) > [“The magic in that country was so thick and tenacious that it settled over the land like chalk-dust and over floors and shelves like…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robin-mckinley/the-magic-in-that-country-was-so-thick-and-tenacious-that-it-settled-2/) [Robin McKinley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robin-mckinley/) > [Roses are for love. Not silly sweet-hearts' love but the love that makes you and keeps you whole, love that gets you through the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robin-mckinley/roses-are-for-love-not-silly-sweet-hearts-love-but-the-love-that/) [Robin McKinley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robin-mckinley/) [Explore all 225 Robin McKinley quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robin-mckinley/) ## More Diplomacy quotes > [“There is no time for patience - there is no time for diplomacy - there is no time for policies, legislations and meaningless paperwork.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/abhijit-naskar/there-is-no-time-for-patience-there-is-no-time-for-diplomacy-there-is/) [Abhijit Naskar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/abhijit-naskar/) > [For diplomacy to be effective, words must be credible - and no one can now doubt the word of America.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-w-bush/for-diplomacy-to-be-effective-words-must-be-credible-and-no-one-can/) [George W. Bush](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-w-bush/) > [In archaeology you uncover the unknown. In diplomacy you cover the known.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/in-archaeology-you-uncover-the-unknown-in-diplomacy-you-cover-the/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [ \[Putin\] is a bully. And bullies only understand when we punch them in the nose, but we need to do that economically. ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kelly-ayotte/putin-is-a-bully-and-bullies-only-understand-when-we-punch-them-in/) [Kelly Ayotte](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kelly-ayotte/) > [Believe it or not, entertainment is part of our American diplomacy, it is part of what makes us exceptional, part of what makes us…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barack-obama/believe-it-or-not-entertainment-is-part-of-our-american-diplomacy-it/) [Barack Obama](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barack-obama/) > [The most successful cultural diplomacy strategy integrates people-to-people or arts/culture/media-to-people interactions into the basic business of diplomacy. The programs in Afghanistan, Egypt, and Iran…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cynthia-p-schneider/the-most-successful-cultural-diplomacy-strategy-integrates-people-to/) [Cynthia P. Schneider](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cynthia-p-schneider/) > [War is always a failure. It means we've failed in diplomacy and we've failed in talking to one another.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-firrell/war-is-always-a-failure-it-means-we-ve-failed-in-diplomacy-and-we-ve/) [Martin Firrell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-firrell/) > [There comes a point where you see no evidence that the carrot and diplomacy are working.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-f-kennedy/there-comes-a-point-where-you-see-no-evidence-that-the-carrot-and/) [John F. Kennedy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-f-kennedy/) > [Russia may very well be front and center again in 2020 as they were in 2016 regarding interference in America's presidential election. But the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-painter/russia-may-very-well-be-front-and-center-again-in-2020-as-they-were/) [Richard Painter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-painter/) > [Iran has little capacity to deploy force. Its strategic doctrines are defensive, designed to deter invasion long enough for diplomacy to set it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/noam-chomsky/iran-has-little-capacity-to-deploy-force-its-strategic-doctrines-are/) [Noam Chomsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/noam-chomsky/) > [“Expecting accountability from the UN system was akin to expecting a blind dog to catch a flying Frisbee.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-soussan/expecting-accountability-from-the-un-system-was-akin-to-expecting-a/) Michael Soussan > [Kolkata is a musical city. What I like about people here is the lack of diplomacy. Some of the best Indian classical musicians belong…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sukhwinder-singh/kolkata-is-a-musical-city-what-i-like-about-people-here-is-the-lack/) [Sukhwinder Singh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sukhwinder-singh/) > [Obama is hardly the first president to seek rapprochement with our adversaries and reconciliation with our enemies, of course. But his determination to make…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-f-hayes/obama-is-hardly-the-first-president-to-seek-rapprochement-with-our/) [Stephen F. Hayes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-f-hayes/) > [Sanctions alone could not stop Iran's nuclear program. But they did help bring Iran to the negotiating table.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barack-obama/sanctions-alone-could-not-stop-iran-s-nuclear-program-but-they-did/) [Barack Obama](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barack-obama/) > [Be polite; write diplomatically; even in a declaration of war one observes the rules of politeness.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/otto-von-bismarck/be-polite-write-diplomatically-even-in-a-declaration-of-war-one/) [Otto von Bismarck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/otto-von-bismarck/) [Browse all 634 Diplomacy quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/diplomacy/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“But it is not, as we say when we are being diplomatic, a fruitful source of inquiry.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Robin McKinley" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robin-mckinley/but-it-is-not-as-we-say-when-we-are-being-diplomatic-a-fruitful/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Diplomacy" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robin-mckinley/but-it-is-not-as-we-say-when-we-are-being-diplomatic-a-fruitful/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/cf1/robin-mckinley-1591_diplomacy_but-it-is-not-as-we-say-when-we-are-bein_1402192.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/cf1/robin-mckinley-1591_diplomacy_but-it-is-not-as-we-say-when-we-are-bein_1402192.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/cf1/robin-mckinley-1591_diplomacy_but-it-is-not-as-we-say-when-we-are-bein_1402192.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“But it is not, as we say when we are being diplomatic, a fruitful source of inquiry.” — Robin McKinley", "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": "Robin McKinley", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robin-mckinley/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "“But it is not, as we...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robin-mckinley/but-it-is-not-as-we-say-when-we-are-being-diplomatic-a-fruitful/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robin-mckinley/but-it-is-not-as-we-say-when-we-are-being-diplomatic-a-fruitful/#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 } } ] } ```