UN General Assembly
1951

49. The dialogue conducted yesterday from this rostrum by Mr. Acheson and Mr. Vyshinsky afforded us an opportunity of appreciating the wisdom of Plato’s dictum that no discussion should be started without the terms to be used first being defined. It was quite plain to any listener that agreement between the two speakers was impossible because, differing in mentality, they employed the same words to mean different and even contradictory things. The word “peace” in Mr. Acheson’s vocabulary meant “war” in that of Mr. Vyshinsky. Truth for one was falsehood for the other. “Resistance to aggression”, as understood by Mr. Acheson meant a plot against the Soviet Union to Mr. Vyshinsky. It is a sign of the times that words have lost their original meaning, and that a flagrant insult, such as might perhaps in other days have provoked war between two nations, produces no other effect today than a contemptuous smile or a burst of laughter if, as is not always the case, it happens to be delivered with wit.