There in the midst of German life is an alien and isolated race of men. Loud and self-conscious in their dress, hot-blooded and restless in their manner. An Asiatic horde on the sandy plains of Prussia. Forming among themselves a close corporation, rigorously shut off from the rest of the world.

Always assume your opponent to be smarter than you.

Truth is inner harmony.

Three hundred men, each of whom knows all the other, govern the fate of the European continent, and they elect their successors from their entourage.

A man must be strong enough to mold the peculiarity of his imperfections into the perfection of his peculiarities.

Three hundred men, all of whom know one another, direct the economic destiny of Europe and choose their successors from among themselves.

In 1902 I left the A.E.G. in order to enter finance. I joined the management of one of our big banks, the Berliner Handelsge-Sellschaft, and reorganized a great part of its industrial undertakings. I gained an insight into German and foreign industry, and belonged at that time to nearly a hundred different concerns. To recognize and create a demand is the secret of all sound business.