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Negotiation Quotes

87 Total

The more you sweat in seeking peace, the less you bleed in fighting war.

– Chinese Proverb

The man who says he is willing to meet you halfway is usually a poor judge of distance.

– Laurence J. Peter

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

– Orlando A. Battista

The essence of cooperation behind handshake deals involves in mutual trust and respect.

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 and Roy A. Herberger Jr.

Statistics: The only science that enables different experts using the same figures to draw different conclusions.

Statistician: A man who believes figures don’t lie, but admits that under analysis some of them won’t stand up either.

Sometimes you just have to play hard ball.

Resolving conflict is rarely about who is right. It is about acknowledgment and appreciation of differences.

– Thomas Crum

Remember: The world is not fair – but it is NEGOTIABLE!

Pick battles big enough to matter, small enough to win.

– Jonathan Kozol

People are usually more convinced by reasons they discovered themselves then by those found by others.

– Blaise Pascal

Our lives are not dependent on whether or not we have conflict. It is what we do with conflict that makes the difference.

– Thomas Crum

Opposites attract — and then can’t stand each other.

– Kenneth Kaye

One of the best ways to persuade others is with your ears – by listening to them.

Often statistics are used as a drunken man uses lamp posts… for support rather than illumination.

Nothing gives one person so much advantage over another as to remain cool and unruffled under all circumstances.

– Thomas Jefferson

No matter what side of the argument you are on, you always find people on your side that you wish were on the other.

– Jascha Heifetz

No matter how thin you make a pancake, it always has two sides.

Never play cat and mouse games if you’re a mouse.

Never interrupt your enemy when he is making a mistake.

– Napoleon Bonaparte

Never go to war with a man who has a barrel of ink.

Knowledge is power, if you know it about the right person.

– Ethel Mumford

It matters not whether you win or lose; what matters is whether I win or lose.

– Darin Weinberg

It is impossible to defeat an ignorant man in argument.

– William G. McAdoo

It is hard to change our point of view in a conflict. Most often, it is because we are not nearly as interested in resolving the conflict and possibly creating a new “pearl” as we are in being right.

– Thomas Crum

It is always easier to ride a horse in the direction it is going. If the horse dies, get off of it.

In one of our concert grand pianos, 243 taut strings exert a pull of 40,000 pounds on an iron frame. It is proof that out of great tension may come great harmony.

– Theodore E. Steinway

In a conflict, being willing to change allows you to move from a point of view to a viewing point — a higher, more expansive place, from which you can see both sides.

– Thomas Crum

If your attitude is “When you WIN, rub it IN”, you are doomed to eventually losing.

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