"There are sometimes problems for which there is no immediate solution, and there are sometimes problems for which there is no solution"
About this Quote
A bracing statement of realism, the line marks two boundaries leaders often ignore: time and possibility. Some challenges yield only to patience, sequencing, and incremental gains; others are not puzzles to be solved but conditions to be endured, mitigated, or outlasted. The wisdom lies in telling the difference. Mistaking a long game for a quick fix breeds hubris and backlash. Treating an intractable predicament as if it had a tidy answer wastes resources, raises false hopes, and can make matters worse.
Lawrence Eagleburger spoke from the vantage of a career diplomat shaped by the Cold War’s end and the Balkan unraveling. He had seen the stubbornness of history and identity, the way grievances layered over decades resist clean resolution. In such arenas, diplomacy often means triage: separating what must be contained from what can be changed, building coalitions for narrow gains, and accepting that progress may look like fewer casualties rather than a sweeping settlement. That sensibility stands against both utopianism and performative certainty.
The line also reframes responsibility. When solutions are not immediate, responsibility becomes stewardship over time: shielding fragile gains, lowering temperatures, and keeping channels open so that future solutions become thinkable. When solutions do not exist, responsibility becomes harm reduction, honest communication with publics, and the pursuit of fairness within limits. This is not surrender to fatalism; it is disciplined hope. Time can be an instrument, not just an obstacle, but only if leaders resist the demand for instant victories.
Across policy and personal life, the message is the same. Some problems are wicked because they contain irreconcilable values, uncertain feedbacks, or structural constraints. Success then is not the vanquishing of complexity but the crafting of tolerable trade-offs. Clarity about limits does not shrink ambition; it sharpens it. By distinguishing the unsolved from the unsolvable, one sets a course for prudence, persistence, and the courage to act where action is possible.
Lawrence Eagleburger spoke from the vantage of a career diplomat shaped by the Cold War’s end and the Balkan unraveling. He had seen the stubbornness of history and identity, the way grievances layered over decades resist clean resolution. In such arenas, diplomacy often means triage: separating what must be contained from what can be changed, building coalitions for narrow gains, and accepting that progress may look like fewer casualties rather than a sweeping settlement. That sensibility stands against both utopianism and performative certainty.
The line also reframes responsibility. When solutions are not immediate, responsibility becomes stewardship over time: shielding fragile gains, lowering temperatures, and keeping channels open so that future solutions become thinkable. When solutions do not exist, responsibility becomes harm reduction, honest communication with publics, and the pursuit of fairness within limits. This is not surrender to fatalism; it is disciplined hope. Time can be an instrument, not just an obstacle, but only if leaders resist the demand for instant victories.
Across policy and personal life, the message is the same. Some problems are wicked because they contain irreconcilable values, uncertain feedbacks, or structural constraints. Success then is not the vanquishing of complexity but the crafting of tolerable trade-offs. Clarity about limits does not shrink ambition; it sharpens it. By distinguishing the unsolved from the unsolvable, one sets a course for prudence, persistence, and the courage to act where action is possible.
Quote Details
| Topic | Wisdom |
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