A Bavarian is half-way between an Austrian and a human being.

Your map of Africa is really quite nice. But my map of Africa lies in Europe. Here is Russia, and here... is France, and we're in the middle - that's my map of Africa.

Not even the King himself has the right to subordinate the interests of his country to his own feelings of love or hatred towards strangers; he is, however, responsible towards God and not to me if he does so, and therefore on this point I am silent.

He who has his thumb on the purse has the power.

I must protest that I would never seek foreign conflicts just to go over domestic difficulties; that would be frivolous. I was speaking of conflicts that we could not avoid, even though we do not seek them.

With a gentleman I am always a gentleman and a half, and with a fraud I try to be a fraud and a half.

A government must not waiver once it has chosen its course. It must not look to the left or right but go forward.