But usually, they produce brief euphoria, an excuse for bureaucracies to draft accords that brighten the atmosphere but do not materially reduce major differences.
They were recorded live, so please excuse the brief technical difficulties that interrupt the recordings.
Yet, Jo Causon, chief executive of the Institute of Customer Service, says this should never be used as an excuse during brief contact with families who are bereaved and often feeling vulnerable.
Finally - and this was the best part of our brief relationship - he excused himself, saying, "I've got to get back to feed the chickens".
But a few words at a White House briefing in no way excuse the continuing silence on the part of the President, whose inflammatory rhetoric over the past year and a half has been accompanied by a wave of hate crimes and other incidents aimed at Muslims, Jews, and other minorities.
You can justify your response, but be brief and avoid excessive excuses.
This is not an excuse; just a brief explanation to set the stage for dialogue.
Speaking on Wednesday, the Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov recalled the Turkish president's own comments, and said it was "hypocritical" of Turkey to use the alleged brief border violation as an excuse for this week's incident.
And, as opposed to others who do such acts, my brief very unscientific audience survey ("Excuse me. May I ask you a question?") indicated that most people do not suspect trickery; suspect that there's someone offstage somehow whispering in his ear.
Mr. Specter said Mr. Mukasey's assertion that he could not address the legality of waterboarding because he had not been briefed about it was "an excuse, and a flimsy excuse".
