The great questions of the day will not be settled by means of speeches and majority decisions but by iron and blood.

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

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

People never lie so much as after a hunt, during a war or before an election.

Politics is the art of the possible.

Never believe anything in politics until it has been officially denied.

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

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

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

With a gentleman I am always a gentleman and a half, and with a fraud I try to be a fraud and a half.

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

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

All treaties between great states cease to be binding when they come in conflict with the struggle for existence.

A government must not waiver once it has chosen its course. It must not look to the left or right but go forward.

Politics is not an exact science.

No civilization other than that which is Christian, is worth seeking or possessing.

A journalist is a person who has mistaken their calling.

An appeal to fear never finds an echo in German hearts.

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.

Whoever speaks of Europe is wrong: it is a geographical expression.

Politics ruins the character.

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

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

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

I have seen three emperors in their nakedness, and the sight was not inspiring.

Politics is the art of the next best.