70+ Famous Otto Von Bismarck Quotes On Nationalism And Socialism

God has a special providence for fools, drunks, and the United States of America.

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

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

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

The division of the United States into federations of equal force was decided long before the Civil War by the high financial powers of Europe. These bankers were afraid that the United States, if they remained in one block and as one nation, would attain economic and financial independence, which would upset their financial domination over the world. The voice of the Rothschilds prevailed… Therefore they sent their emissaries into the field to exploit the question of slavery and to open an abyss between the two sections of the Union.

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

The position of Prussia in Germany will not be determined by its liberalism but by its power … Prussia must concentrate its strength and hold it for the favorable moment, which has already come and gone several times. Since the treaties of Vienna, our frontiers have been ill-designed for a healthy body politic. Not through speeches and majority decisions will the great questions of the day be decided – that was the great mistake of 1848 and 1849 – but by iron and blood (Eisen und Blut).

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.

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

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.

Not by speeches and votes of the majority, are the great questions of the time decided — that was the error of 1848 and 1849 — but by iron and blood.

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

Fools say that they learn by experience. I prefer to profit by others experience.

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

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

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

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

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

I have a burden on my soul. During my long life, I did not make anyone happy, neither my friends, nor my family, nor even myself. I have done many evil things…i was the cause of the beginning of three big wars. About 800,000 people were killed because of me on the battlefields., and their mothers, brothers, and widows cried for them. And now this stands between me and god.

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

The death of Lincoln was a disaster for Christendom. There was no man in the United States great enough to wear his boots and the bankers went anew to grab the riches. I fear that foreign bankers with their craftiness and tortuous tricks will entirely control the exuberant riches of America and use it to systematically corrupt civilization.

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.

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

With a gentleman I am always a gentleman and a half, and with a fraud I try to be a fraud and a half.

The nation that has the schools has the future.

Politics is the art of the next best.

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

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

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

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

Politics is not an exact science.

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

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

الحياة أشبه بالتواجد عند طبيب الأسنان. فأنت تعتقد دائما أن الأسوأ هو الذي لا يزال في طريقه إليك، رغم أنه يكون قد انتهى بالفعل.

He obtained from Congress the right to borrow from the people by selling to it the ‘bonds’ of States … and the Government and the nation escaped the plots of the foreign financiers. They understood at once, that the United States would escape their grip. The death of Lincoln was resolved upon.

If there is ever another war in europe, it will come out of some damned silly thing in the balkans.

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.

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

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.

A journalist is a person who has mistaken their calling.

What we learn from History is that no one learns from History

Crowned heads, wealth and privilege may well tremble should ever again the black and red unite!”
-after the split between anarchists and marxists in 1872.

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.

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!

Politics is not a science…but an art.

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

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

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

We live in a wondrous time in which the strong is weak because of his moral scruples and the weak grows strong because of his audacity.

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.

Man cannot control the current of events. He can only float with them and steer.

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

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

Politics ruins the character.

The Americans are a very lucky people. They’re bordered to the north and south by weak neighbors, and to the east and west by fish.

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

Do not expect that once taking advantage of Russia’s weakness, you will receive dividends forever. Russian has always come for their money. And when they come – do not rely on an agreement signed by you, you are supposed to justify. They are not worth the paper it is written. Therefore, with the Russian is to play fair, or do not play.

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

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

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

Hounds follow those who feed them.

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.

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

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

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

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

Only a fool learns from his own mistakes. The wise man learns from the mistakes of others.

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

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

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

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.

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