Thursday, March 29, 2018

A French Aphorism in English

Charles Maurice de Talleyrand

As Charles Maurice de Talleyrand famously said once:
A diplomat who says "yes" means "maybe," a diplomat who says "maybe" means "no," and a diplomat who says "no" is not a diplomat.
Fair enough, but I would have rendered the English version as slightly different:
A diplomat who says "yes" means "maybe," a diplomat who says "maybe" means "no," and a diplomat who says "no" is no diplomat.
This small shortening wouldn't trouble anyone, now, would it? Brevity, after all is the sole art of wit.

Labels:

0 Comments:

Post a Comment

<< Home