Otto von Bismarck Quotations

I have seen three emperors in their nakedness, and the sight was not inspiring.

When you want to fool the world, tell the truth.

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 journalist is a person who has mistaken their calling.

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

There is a Providence that protects idiots, drunkards, children and the United States of America.

All treaties between great states cease to be binding when they come in conflict with the struggle for existence.

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

People never lie so much as after a hunt, during a war or before an election.

Never believe anything in politics until it has been officially denied.

The main thing is to make history, not to write it.

When you say you agree to a thing in principle you mean that you have not the slightest intention of carrying it out in practice.

An appeal to fear never finds an echo in German hearts.

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

To retain respect for sausages and laws, one must not watch them in the making.

When a man says he approves of something in principle, it means he hasn't the slightest intention of carrying it out in practice.

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

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

Politics is the art of the next best.

No civilization other than that which is Christian, is worth seeking or possessing.

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

A statesman... must wait until he hears the steps of God sounding through events, then leap up and grasp the hem of His garment.

The secret of politics? Make a good treaty with Russia.

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

Politics ruins the character.

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

Politics is not an exact science.

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.

Politics is no exact science.

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

Politics is not a science, as the professors are apt to suppose. It is an art.

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

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

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

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

The luxury of one's own opinion.

There is only one greater folly than that of the fool who says in his heart there is no God, and that is the folly of the people that says with its head that it does not know whether there is a God or not.

They treat me like a fox, a cunning fellow ( Schlaukopf ) of the first rank. But the truth is that with a gentleman I am always a gentleman and a half, and when I have to do with a pirate, I try to be a pirate and a half.

Vanity is a mortgage that must be deducted from the value of a man.

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

This policy cannot succeed through speeches, and shooting-matches, and songs; it can only be carried out through blood and iron.

My subject is my life, and my life is my subject.

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

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

Let them stew in their own grease (or juice).

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.

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

I am bored. The great things are done. The German Reich is made.

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

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

Hounds follow those who feed them.

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

I have never lived on principles. When I have had to act, I never first asked myself on what principles I was going to act, but I went at it and did what I thought fit. I have often reproached myself for my want of principle.

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

I consider even a victorious war as an evil, from which statesmanship must endeavor to spare nations.

Better pointed bullets than pointed words.

Politics is not a science...but an art.

The nation that has the schools has the future.

We are better off not knowing how sausages and laws are made.

We Germans fear God, but nothing else in the world; and it is the fear of God, which lets us love and foster peace.

Beware of sentimental alliances where the consciousness of good deeds is the only compensation for noble sacrifices.

We Germans fear God, but nothing else in the world.

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

History is simply a piece of paper covered with print: the main thing is to make history, not to write it.

Show me an objective worthy of war and I will go along with you.

Physicians still retain something of their priestly origin; they would gladly do what they forbid.

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

Revolutions in Prussia are started by kings, and since it is a revolution, it is better to start it ourselves than to suffer of it

Laws are like sausages. You sleep far better the less you know about how they are made.

Let us put Germany, so to speak, in the saddle! you will see that she can ride.

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.

A little caution outflanks a large cavalry.

A conquering army on the border will not be stopped by eloquence.

I have found that nothing so deceives your adversaries as telling them the truth.

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.

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

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.

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

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 ...

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.

Fools you are. To say you learn by your experience. I prefer to profit by others' mistakes and avoid the price of my own.

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

One can put some trust in the gratitude of a sovereign, and also in that of his family; under certain conditions, one can even rely upon it; but one can never expect anything from the gratitude of a nation.

If you like laws and sausages, you should never watch either one being made.

The most significant event of the 20th century will be the fact that the North Americans speak English.

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

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

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.

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

I have wished to crush Rome that I might crush Christianity.

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

Love is blind; friendship tries not to notice.

The statesman's task is to hear God's footsteps marching through history, and to try and catch on to His coattails as He marches past.

Earthly majesty is always akin to the fallen angel, who is proud and unhappy, beautiful but troubled, and whose plans and efforts, though vast, are denied access.

I have often regretted what I have eaten, but never what I have drunk.

You can't destroy the polish national-consciousness or Poles on the battlefield, but if you give them power, they will destroy themselves

Preventive war is like committing suicide out of fear of death.

You can do anything with children if you only play with them.

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