“Diplomacy is the art of saying nice doggy until you can find a rock. ”
Fletcher Knebel (1911–1993) Novelist, journalist
Attributed to Francis Rodman, in volume 64 of The Reader's digest (1954)
Other variants also attributed to Wynn Catlin in Kiss Me Hardy : Quotations Ancient and (Very) Modern (1982) by Roger Kilroy; and to Winston Churchill by Dick Applegate in a speech reprinted in Volume 75 of "The Carpenter" (1955)
Misattributed
“Diplomacy is the art of saying nice doggy until you can find a rock. ”
Fletcher Knebel (1911–1993) Novelist, journalist
Harlan Ellison (1934–2018) American writer
Interviewed by J. Michael Straczynski Clue book for the computer version of I Have No Mouth, and I Must Scream http://infidels.org/kiosk/author/harlan-ellison-207.html
“The essence of what you have to say you pick up before you're twenty.”
Patrick White (1912–1990) English-born Australian writer
In The Making (1970)
“I'm not picking up dog shit. I'm a rock star.”
Ozzy Osbourne (1948) English heavy metal vocalist and songwriter
The Osbournes television show
Kofi Annan (1938–2018) 7th Secretary-General of the United Nations
Press conference http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1309/is_1_35/ai_54259243 regarding the use of force to gain compliance from Saddam Hussein (24 February 1998)
“Take these chances
Place them in a box until a quieter time
Lights down, you up and die.”
Dave Matthews (1967) American singer-songwriter, musician and actor
Ants Marching
Remember Two Things (1993)
“Life is not fair. Get used to it… Be nice to nerds. Chances are you'll end up working for one.”
Bill Gates (1955) American business magnate and philanthropist
Though widely attributed to Gates on the internet, this list of life suggestions is actually based on one from Charles J. Sykes. More information at Snopes.com http://www.snopes.com/language/document/liferule.htm <br class="br">Misattributed
Doris Lessing book The Golden Notebook
Saul Green in "The Golden Notebook"
The Golden Notebook (1962)
“You have to pick yourself up from where you fell.”
Chang Ching-sen (1959) Taiwanese politician
Chang Ching-sen (2018) cited in " Taichung to host first Asia-Pacific Youth Games in 2019: mayor http://focustaiwan.tw/news/aipl/201809030021.aspx" on Focus Taiwan, 7 March 2018.
Patrick Rothfuss book The Name of the Wind
Source: The Name of the Wind (2007), Chapter 10, “Alar and Several Stones” (p. 78)