Otto von Bismarck

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

"Diplomacy without arms is like music without instruments."

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

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

"Faust complained he had studied five years and still understood nothing. I have studied statecraft for thirty years, and I do not know it yet."

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

"The ability to wait is often the greatest asset."

"I have nothing to do with the possibility of a third German war."

"A sincere diplomat is like dry water or wooden iron."

"If there is a God, I hope he has a good excuse."

"The great questions of the time will not be resolved by speeches and majority decisions but by iron and blood."

"Absolute liability could not be tolerated; a statesman must be pragmatic."

"To have a lively imagination may be perilous in the highest stations."

"Sometimes the weak overcome the strong by being twice as clever."

"A man who has a hole in his soul cannot be repaired by money."

"The tendency is always to substitute quantity for quality."

"One day the crash will come but not just yet."

"I am accustomed to hear whatever is said against me."

"The Germans fear God and nothing else in the world."

"What we learn from history is that we do not learn from history."

"The secret of getting ahead is getting started with hard work."

"A government must not waiver once it is in possession of authority."

"Beware of that man whose god is in the skies."

"After my death, the crash will come."

"The wise man learns from the mistakes of others."

"The best diplomacy is to avoid making unnecessary enemies."

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

"Falsehood without disguise is the ruin of states."

"Intellect without character leads to ruin."

"A revolution is successful only if it is supported by the masses."