SOMETIMES an off-the-cuff comment intended to pacify during a crisis can be useful. At the very least, it revives optimism and reduces stress. In fact, some people have even adopted a “permanent off-the-cuff comment” to save them when certain crises hit, for example to avoid being trapped by questions.

We remember, for example, the late Adam Malik, who first coined the now famous comment, “Everything can be arranged.” Then there was the