Introduction
François de Callières, a diplomat in the service of King Louis XIV of France, believed that those posted to overseas embassies should not only show but feel respect for their host country. Given the way that all of us now live in one another’s pockets through the internet, and our much-vaunted democratic government, everyone should heed his advice, for we are all diplomats now.
THE diplomatist must bear in mind once for all that he is not authorised to demand that a whole nation shall conform to his way of living, and that it is more reasonable, and in the long run greatly to his own comfort, to accommodate himself to foreign ways of living. He should beware of criticising the form of government or the personal conduct of the prince to whom he is accredited. On the contrary he should always praise that which is praiseworthy without affectation and without flattery, and if he properly understands his own function he will quickly discover that there is no nation or state which has not many good points, excellent laws, charming customs as well as bad ones; and he will quickly discover that it is easy to single out the good points, and that there is no profit to be had in denouncing the bad ones, for the very good reason that nothing the diplomatist can say or do will alter the domestic habits or laws of the country in which he lives.
Précis
François de Callières, a French diplomat at the turn of the eighteenth century, warned his colleagues not to look down on the countries they visit. All countries are a blend of good and bad, he reminded them. The well-trained diplomat focuses on the good, knowing that nothing he can do or say will change the bad. (56 / 60 words)
François de Callières, a French diplomat at the turn of the eighteenth century, warned his colleagues not to look down on the countries they visit. All countries are a blend of good and bad, he reminded them. The well-trained diplomat focuses on the good, knowing that nothing he can do or say will change the bad.
Variations: 1.increase the length of this precis to exactly 60 words. 2.reduce the length of this precis to exactly 50 words. 3.introduce one of the following words into the precis: about, despite, just, may, must, since, until, whereas.
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