One day the great European War will come out of some damned foolish thing in the Balkans (1888).

Universal suffrage is the government of a house by its nursery.

With bad laws and good civil servants it's still possible to govern. But with bad civil servants even the best laws can't help.

Life has taught me to forgive much, but to seek forgiveness still more.

Anyone who has ever looked into the glazed eyes of a soldier dying on the battlefield will think hard before starting a war.

The Balkans arent worth the life of a single Pomeranian grenadier.

The government should cultivate the view also among the propertyless classes of the population, those who are the most numerous and the least educated, that the state is not only an institution of necessity but also of welfare. By recognizable and direct advantages they must be led to look upon the state not as an agency devised solely for the protection of the better-situated classes of society but also as one serving their needs and interests.