Otto von Bismarck

One day the great European War [will] come out of some damned foolish thing in the Balkans.

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[ Of possible German military intervention in the Balkans :] Not worth the healthy bones of a single Pomeranian grenadier. Speech to Reichstag, 5 Dec. 1876

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[ Remark to Meyer von Waldeck, 11 Aug. 1867 :] Die Politik ist die Lehre von Möglichen . Politics is the art of the possible.

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[ Of his dispute with Pope Pius IX over papal authority in Germany, alluding to Emperor Henry IV’s obeisance to Pope Gregory VII at Canossa in 1077 :] We will not go to Canossa.

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Let us put Germany in the saddle, so to speak—it already knows how to ride.

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

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

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

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A special Providence protects fools, drunkards, small children and the United States of America.

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

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

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

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Politics is no exact science.

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

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

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

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

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

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A fool learns from experience. A wise man learns from the experience of others.

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

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

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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.

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Whoever speaks of Europe is wrong, [it is] a geographical concept.

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We will not go to Canossa.

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Not worth the healthy bones of a single Pomeranian grenadier.

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Politics is the art of the possible.

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

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