Otto von Bismarck

"The price of greatness is responsibility."

"Vanity is the appropriate stage for the exhibition of all the vices."

"To be a diplomat, one must learn to bite one's tongue."

"The weak are trampled by the strong; such is nature."

"A man's enemies are the men who have disappointed him."

"The best time to take important decisions is in the morning."

"A country is not judged by its army, but by its character."

"The future is not written; it is made by those with will and courage."

"In politics, you must always think three moves ahead."

"The art of statesmanship is knowing when to keep silent."

"A true statesman makes history; a false one is made by it."

"Loyalty is the noblest of virtues and the rarest."

"The greatest victories are often won without firing a shot."

"A man's word is his bond; without it, he is nothing."

"The wise unite, the foolish divide."

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

"A journalist is a person who has mistaken their opinion for news."

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

"Politics is not an exact science."

"Great things require great effort."

"The less one knows about the way sausages and laws are made, the better one sleeps."

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

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

"Preventive war is like committing suicide from fear of death."

"The whole of the Balkans is not worth the bones of a single Pomeranian grenadier."

"One point which deserves attention is the persuasion of the working classes."

"It is often in the darkest skies that we see the brightest stars."

"I have always thought that one man of tolerable abilities may work great changes."

"Vanity is an ailment that is hardly ever found among the truly strong."

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