top of page
Compromise Quotes


"Conciliation is not capitulation, nor is compromise to be deemed equivalent to imbalanced concession."


"Let no one think that flexibility and a predisposition to compromise is a sign of weakness or a sell-out."


"We all agree on the necessity of compromise. We just can't agree on when it's necessary to compromise."


"To be or not to be is not a question of compromise. Either you be or you don't be."


"A good compromise, a good piece of legislation, is like a good sentence; or a good piece of music. Everybody can recognize it. They say, 'Huh. It works. It makes sense.'"


"The swift wind of compromise is a lot more devastating than the sudden jolt of misfortune."


"Games are a compromise between intimacy and keeping intimacy away."


"Prudence and compromise are necessary means, but every man should have an impudent end which he will not compromise."


"Compromise and tolerance are magic words. It took me 40 years to become philosophical."


"You must take the compromise to win, or else nothing. That means: you race or you do not."


"All compromise is based on give and take, but there can be no give and take on fundamentals. Any compromise on mere fundamentals is a surrender. For it is all give and no take."


"Compromise, n. Such an adjustment of conflicting interests as gives each adversary the satisfaction of thinking he has got what he ought not to have, and is deprived of nothing except what was justly his due."


"A principle is the expression of perfection, and as imperfect beings like us cannot practise perfection, we devise every moment limits of its compromise in practice."


"If you ask me to compromise on principle, I will get out the veto pen."


"I don't think there's anything in the compromise that means that there's a clash of ethics."


"It's true Heaven forbids some pleasures, but a compromise can usually be found."


"Film-makers should remain true to their principles and never compromise, there is a real revival in the British film industry but there is a danger that we will become colonial servants of Hollywood. We need to maintain our own integrity."


"I felt that to do this drug, I had to become someone totally different than I was. I had to compromise my integrity, my value system. I knew it was so wrong."


"Compromise used to mean that half a loaf was better than no bread. Among modern statesmen it really seems to mean that half a loaf; is better than a whole loaf."


"I'm a moderate. I hang out in the middle. I vote against my party with some regularity and try to compromise. It doesn't appear right now that the Republican Party is welcoming moderates any more."


"You have to compromise all the way. The only thing that counts is the result."


"More often there's a compromise between ethics and expediency."


"But just as they did in Philadelphia when they were writing the constitution, sooner or later, you've got to compromise. You've got to start making the compromises that arrive at a consensus and move the country forward."


"I sincerely believe that there's room for cutting down trees for forestry and grazing, so as we all get to eat. Everyone has to compromise."


"You can't always have the best team. It's always a compromise."


"Get it - get it better or get it worse. No middle ground of compromise."


"I cannot compromise or inhibit my independence."


"If you find yourself in a movie that you have questions about, it's not a compromise to your integrity."


"When I handed over the names and compromised so many CIA agents in the Soviet Union, I had come to the conclusion that the loss of these sources to the U.S. would not compromise significant national defense, political, diplomatic interests."


"The compromise will always be more expensive than either of the suggestions it is compromising."


"Oftentimes, when constituencies or sectors of opinion are distinct, when they are confronted with a situation where they're going to have to make a serious compromise, they react very negatively publicly, but they also recognize when they step back that this is right."


"If we don't stop somewhere, if we don't accept an unhappy compromise, unhappy for both sides, if we don't learn how to unhappily coexist and contain our burned sense of injustice - if we don't learn how to do that, we end up in a doomed state."


"I'll bet Shakespeare compromised himself a lot; anybody who's in the entertainment industry does to some extent."


"True, Heaven prohibits certain pleasures; but one can generally negotiate a compromise."


"Otherwise, to be a movie star, it's a lot of compromise and also a lot of headaches. You can't do what you want. You become a prisoner of your fame. This happened to me in France and I don't want it."


"They say it is better to be poor and happy than rich and miserable, but how about a compromise like moderately rich and just moody?"


"But to put out a greatest hits on one CD was totally impossible, I just couldn't do it. The best compromise was to put out two CDs - Early Days - which is what it is - and Latter Days."


"I don't think you can compromise, news either has integrity or it doesn't. It either is accurate, balanced and fair or it isn't."


"I was editing Canadian Literature. I didn't want to let Canadian Literature go, so they reached a nice compromise by which I received half a professor's salary."


"Sometimes a little compromise isn't a bad thing. You don't need to be precious about it."


"We are not diplomats but prophets, and our message is not a compromise but an ultimatum."
bottom of page