Otto Von Bismarck Quotes

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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.

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.

Better pointed bullets than pointed words.

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

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

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

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

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.

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

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

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

A journalist is a person who has mistaken their calling.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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.

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

Politics ruins the character.

The luxury of one's own opinion.

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

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

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

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

Politics is not an exact science.

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

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

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

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

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

Politics is no exact science.

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