The following phrase is from a diplomat, pertaining to diplomacy: Speech has been granted to man in order to disguise his thoughts.

Frédéric Bastiat
Complete Works, Volume 7, pages 223 à 226 (in French)
La République française, March 1st, 1848

We have reached such a degree of government encroachment on the life of citizens that the question asked here by Frédéric Bastiat has been, to the best of my knowledge, never brought back. Indeed, he is demanding nothing less than the cancellation of diplomacy and embassies! This position is an answer to his question: “However, what does a people who owns itself need to negotiate? All its diplomacy is made in the open light of deliberating assemblies – his traders are his negotiators, his diplomats for union and peace”. Thus he is consistent with the following apocryphal quote, which remains my preferred one: “If goods and services do not cross borders, soldiers will”. To the extent that free-trade constitutes the best peace factor, it is not necessary to grant diplomats the task to negotiate what relationships between countries should be. Individuals are the ones who create relationships, including with foreigners, and this is sufficient.

Moreover, what today’s quote reveals is that the ethics of diplomacy is seriously flawed and that if its object is different from the search for truth and peace, a cost-benefit analysis of diplomacy is not favourable.