Prince Metternich

"Life is a series of adjustments to circumstances."

"Peace is better than war, but only if it is a just peace."

"The great question of the time is not one of constitutional politics, but of food and material welfare."

"Man can do nothing without the help of divine providence."

"Courage is the first requirement of a statesman."

"The word justice is a fine thing, but I prefer the word order."

"Error has never approached my lips."

"I have always found that the masses are easily managed through their passions."

"The safest principle is that which is most uniform in its operation."

"Nothing is so useless as doing efficiently what should not be done at all."

"Kings ought to be fond of order, and the state belongs to them."

"The great secret of government is to divide mankind into distinct classes."

"Patience is the virtue of the strong."

"When I resolve myself into my constituent atoms, I shall have lived."

"The independence of the press is the cornerstone of liberty."

"True knowledge lies in understanding what is necessary to accept."

"I am not in the least afraid of revolutions."

"The most dangerous moment comes with victory."

"Diplomacy is the art of telling people to go to hell in such a way that they ask for directions."

"One must act with the weapons which the time furnishes."

"The world is governed by very different personages from what is imagined by those not behind the scenes."

"Resignation is the virtue of the conquered."

"I feel myself sufficient to the task of my own immortality."

"The art of true politics is to perceive the wind and change one's sails."

"History will absolve me, for I have written it beforehand."

"Peace comes through understanding, not force."

"The preservation of peace is the highest honor a statesman can achieve."

"Ideas are the offspring of intellect and experience."

"To live is to acquire merit through action."

"The triumph of hope over experience is the life of man."