I think history is continuous. It doesn't begin or end on Pearl Harbor Day or the day Lyndon Johnson withdraws from the presidency or on 9/11. You ha…

- Richard Holbrooke

World War I was not inevitable, as many historians say. It could have been avoided, and it was a diplomatically botched negotiation.

- 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.

- Richard Holbrooke

Know something about something. Don’t just present your wonderful self to the world. Constantly amass knowledge and offer it around.

- Richard Holbrooke

Diplomacy is like jazz: endless variations on a theme.

- 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…

- Richard Holbrooke

The controlled chaos is one way to get creativity. The intensity of it, the physical rush, the intimacy created the kind of dialogue that leads to sy…

- Richard Holbrooke

As countries grapple with modernization, people who are left behind tend to hold firmer and firmer to their view of the evil of modernity.

- Richard Holbrooke

A peace deal requires agreements, and you don't make agreements with your friends, you make agreements with your enemies.

- Richard Holbrooke