
„Tact: the ability to describe others as they see themselves.“
— Abraham Lincoln 16th President of the United States 1809 - 1865
This appears to be a variation of a quote often attributed to Caskie Stinnett in 1960, "A diplomat...is a person who can tell you to go to hell in such a way that you actually look forward to the trip" https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=kcycAQAAQBAJ&pg=PA90&dq=%22A+diplomat+is+a+person+who+can+tell+you+to+go+to+hell+in+such+a+way+that+you+actually+look+forward+to+the+trip.%22 but which appears to have been in common use in the 1950s and is first recorded in the Seattle Daily Times in 1953 as "Diplomat—one who can tell you to go to hades and make you look forward to the trip". http://www.barrypopik.com/index.php/new_york_city/entry/a_diplomat_is_a_person_who_can_tell_you_to_go_to_hell_so_that_you_look_forw/
Misattributed
Variant: Diplomacy is the art of telling people to go to hell in such a way that they ask for directions
„Tact: the ability to describe others as they see themselves.“
— Abraham Lincoln 16th President of the United States 1809 - 1865
„You can't go forward if you're looking backward. You run into walls that way.“
— Karen Marie Moning author 1964
Source: Bloodfever
„Tact is the ability to step on a man's toes without messing up the shine on his shoes.“
— Harry Truman American politician, 33rd president of the United States (in office from 1945 to 1953) 1884 - 1972
„Tell the House of Lords to go to hell.“
— Dennis Skinner British politician 1932
During the 2004 fox hunting debate in the House of Commons http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm200304/cmhansrd/vo040915/debtext/40915-07.htm Parliament.co.uk (2004)
2000s
— Mark Driscoll American pastor 1970
Barry, John D.. " "Bible Study Anyhwhere http://www.biblestudymagazine.com", Bible Study Magazine, Mar-Apr 2009, pg. 12.
— Vera Nazarian American writer 1966
Source: The Perpetual Calendar of Inspiration
„Happiness is pretty simple: someone to love, something to do, something to look forward to.“
— Rita Mae Brown Novelist, poet, screenwriter, activist 1944
Source: Hiss of Death
„Tell him to go to hell; I'm for Jimmy Byrnes.“
— Harry Truman American politician, 33rd president of the United States (in office from 1945 to 1953) 1884 - 1972
Upon hearing that Franklin D. Roosevelt wanted him to be his vice presidential running mate (21 July 1944), as quoted in Choosing Truman : The Democratic Convention of 1944 (1994); also quoted in "Harry S. Truman : America's last great leader?" in USA Today magazine (January 1995) by the Society for the Advancement of Education http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1272/is_n2596_v123/ai_16399945
„Hell, any plan that added "and then we pray" is not a trip to Disneyland.“
— Jessica Bird, book Lover Revealed
Source: Lover Revealed
„There are many ways of going forward, but only one way of standing still.“
— Franklin D. Roosevelt 32nd President of the United States 1882 - 1945
— Banksy pseudonymous England-based graffiti artist, political activist, and painter
Existencilism (2002)
— Abby Sunderland Camera Assistant, Inspirational Speaker and Sailor 1993
Source: Unsinkable: A Young Woman's Courageous Battle on the High Seas (2011), p. 156
„Sometimes when someone tells you not to go somewhere, it’s better not to go there.“
— Ben Aaronovitch, book Rivers of London
Source: Rivers of London (2011; American edition title: Midnight Riot), Chapter 9, “The Judas Goat” (p. 189)
— Jomo Kenyatta First prime minister and first president of Kenya 1893 - 1978
(1964) Post-election statement. Virginia Morell, Ancestral Passions: The leakey Family and the Quest for Humankind's Beginnings, Copyright 1995, Chapter 19, beginning.
„Tact in audacity is knowing how far you can go without going too far.“
— Jean Cocteau French poet, novelist, dramatist, designer, boxing manager and filmmaker 1889 - 1963
Variant translation: Tact in audacity consists in knowing how far we may go too far.
Le Coq et l’Arlequin (1918)
„Once you have started, the only way back is to go forward.“
— Imre Kertész Hungarian writer 1929 - 2016
Source: Detective Story (2008), p. 91.
Context: There was truth in Diaz’s logic, yes: our line of work is like that. Once you have started, the only way back is to go forward.