150 Quotes by Otto von Bismarck

The Americans are a very lucky people. They're bordered to the north and south by weak neighbors, and to the east and west by fish.

The main thing is to make history, not to write it.

The government should cultivate the view also among the propertyless classes of the population, those who are the most numerous and the least educated, that the state is not only an institution of necessity but also of welfare. By recognizable and direct advantages they must be led to look upon the state not as an agency devised solely for the protection of the better-situated classes of society but also as one serving their needs and interests.

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.

Do not expect that once taking advantage of Russia's weakness, you will receive dividends forever. Russian has always come for their money. And when they come - do not rely on an agreement signed by you, you are supposed to justify. They are not worth the paper it is written. Therefore, with the Russian is to play fair, or do not play.

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

Only a fool learns from his own mistakes. The wise man learns from the mistakes of others.

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

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