Otto von Bismarck Quotes

Fools you are who say you like to learn from your mistakes. I prefer to learn from the mistakes of others, and avoid the cost of my own.

The nation that has the schools has the future.

There are two things you don't want to see being made - sausage and legislation.

The luxury of one's own opinion.

I am accustomed to pay men back in their own coin.

In England the more horses a nobleman has, the more popular he is. So long as the English are devoted to racing, Socialism has no chance with you.

Be polite; write diplomatically; even in a declaration of war one observes the rules of politeness.

Laws are like sausages, it is better not to see them being made.

Politics is like sausages, you don't want to watch either being made.

God always looks after the fools and — and the United States.

A bad plan that is well executed will yield much better results than a good plan that is poorly executed.

The Catholic priest, from the moment he becomes a priest, is a sworn officer of the pope.

A really great man is known by three signs: generosity in the design, humanity in the execution, moderation in success.

A generation that has taken a beating is always followed by a generation that deals one.

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

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.

Faust complained about having two souls in his breast, but I harbor a whole crowd of them and they quarrel. It is like being in a republic.

Politics is not an exact science.

War should only be used for a policy worth its sacrifices.

Our German forefathers had a very kind religion. They believed that, after death, they would meet again all the good dogs that had been their companions in life. I wish I could believe that too.

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.

The great questions of the day will not be settled by means of speeches and majority decisions but by iron and blood.

Laws are like medicine; they generally cure an evil by a lesser or a passing evil.

Politics are not a science based on logic; they are the capacity of always choosing at each instant, in constantly changing situations, the least harmful, the most useful.

There are two things civilized Man should never see being made: Sausages and Laws.

You can do everything with bayonets, but you are not able to sit on them

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

I have always found the word 'Europe' on the lips of those who wanted something from others which they dared not demand in their own names!

Love is blind; friendship tries not to notice.

The less people know about how sausages and laws are made, the better they'll sleep at night

Better pointed bullets than pointed words.

I do not regard the procuring of peace as a matter in which we should play the role of arbiter between different opinions ... more that of an honest broker who really wants to press the business forward.

Politics is no exact science.

Nothing should be left to an invaded people except their eyes for weeping.

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

It is the destiny of the weak to be devoured by the strong.

Politics ruins the character.

Whoever speaks of Europe is wrong: it is a geographical expression.

Even the most favorable outcome of the war will never lead to the decomposition of the main forces of Russia, which is based on millions of Russian ... The latter, even if they break up international treaties, just as quickly re-connect with each other, like pieces of a particle of mercury.

Never fight with Russian. On your every stratagem they answer unpredictable stupidity.

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

Fools learn from experience. I prefer to learn from the experience of others.

People who love sausage and people who believe in justice should never watch either of them being made

I have only one ambition left: I should like to have a good epitaph.

Politics is the art of the possible, the attainable — the art of the next best

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.

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.

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.