When to be Silent

"We must have Cuba. We can't do without Cuba, and above all we must not suffer its transfer to Great Britain. We shall acquire it by a coup d'etat at some propitious moment, which from the present state of Europe may not be far distant. How delighted, then, am I to feel that you have selected a diplomatist & fit for the work, — one who, possessing no vanity himself & knowing when to speak & when to be silent, is so well calculated to flatter the pride of the Dons, — who by the gentle arts of insinuation and persuasion can gradually prepare the queen mother, the ministers & courtiers for the great surrender, — and who above all is a perfect master both of the language of Louis le Grand and of the knight of the rueful countenance. Cuba is already ours. I feel it in my finger ends. " -James Buchanan, 1849 (15th US President, 1857–1861)