Prince Otto Eduard Leopold von Bismarck , Duke of Lauenburg (1 April 1815 - 30 July 1898) German aristocrat and statesman; Prime Minister of Prussia (1862 -1890), First Chancellor of Germany (1871 - 1890); he is nicknamed the Iron Chancellor.
Sourced
- The great questions of the time are not decided by speeches and majority decisions— that was the error of 1848 and 1849— but by iron and blood.
- Variant: The great questions of the day will not be settled by means of speeches and majority decisions... but by iron and blood.
- Speech to the Prussian Diet (30 September 1862)
- A conquering army on the border will not be stopped by eloquence.
- Speech to North German Reichstag (24 September 1867)
- Setzen wir Deutschland, so zu sagen, in den Sattel! Reiten wird es schon konnen.
- Let us put Germany, so to speak in the saddle, you will see that she can ride.
- Speech to Parliament of Confederation (1867)
- He who has his thumb on the purse has the power.
- Speech to North German Reichstag (21 May 1869)
- The luxury of one's own opinion.
- Speech to the Prussian Diet (17 December 1873)
- Politics is not an exact science . . . but an art.
- Wir Deutschen furchten Gott, sonst aber Nichts in der Welt.
- We Germans fear God, but nothing else in the world.
- Speech to the Reichstag (6 February 1888)
Attributed
- Der Konig herrscht aber regiert nicht.
- The king reigns but does not govern.
- Ich bin gewoht in der Munze wiederzuzahlen in der man mich bezahlt.
- I am accustomed to pay men back in their own coin.
- Lieber Spitzkugeln als Spitzreden.
- Better pointed bullets than pointed speeches.
- 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 journalist is a person who has mistaken their calling.
- A little caution outflanks a large cavalry.
- A really great man is known by three signs— generosity in the design, humanity in the execution, moderation in success.
- Variant: The three signs of great men are— generosity in the design, humanity in the execution, moderation in success.
- A statesman... must wait until he hears the steps of God sounding through events, then leap up and grasp the hem of His garment.
- Anyone who has ever looked into the glazed eyes of a soldier dying on the battlefield will think hard before starting a war.
- Be polite; write diplomatically; even in a declaration of war one observes the rules of politeness.
- Beware of sentimental alliances where the consciousness of good deeds is the only compensation for noble sacrifices.
- 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.
- I have seen three emperors in their nakedness, and the sight was not inspiring.
- Laws are like sausages, it is better not to see them being made. **Variant: To retain respect for sausages and laws, one must not watch them in the making.
If you like laws and sausages, you should never watch either one being made.
- Never believe anything in politics until it has been officially denied.
- Variant: Never believe in anything until it has been officially denied.
- People never lie so much as after a hunt, during a war or before an election.
- Variant: People never lie so much as after a hunt, during a war, and before an election.
- Politics is the art of the possible.
- The main thing is to make history, not to write it.
- The secret of politics? Make a good treaty with Russia.
- When a man says he approves of something in principle, it means he hasn't the slightest intention of putting it into practice.
- Variants: When a man says he approves of something in principle, it means he hasn't the slightest intention of carrying it out in practice.
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.
- 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.
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