Bismarck Quotes

“In both cases his love of combat and delight in battles were a great support to me in carrying out the policy I regarded as necessary, in opposition
to the intelligible and justifiable aversion in a most influential quarter. It proved inconvenient to me in 1867, in the Luxemburg question, and in 1 875 and afterwards on the question whether it was desirable, as regards a war which we should probably have to face sooner or later, to bring it on anticipando before the adversary could improve his preparations. I have always opposed the theory which says ' Yes'; not only at the Luxemburg period, but likewise subsequently for twenty years, in the conviction that even victorious wars cannot be justified unless they are forced upon one, and that one cannot see the cards of Providence far enough ahead to anticipate historical development according to one's own calculation.”
― Otto von Bismarck, Bismarck: The Man & the Statesman, Vol. 2

“All these considerations, conscious and unconscious, strengthened my opinion that war could be avoided only at the cost of the honour of Prussia and of the national confidence in it. Under this conviction I made use of the royal authorisation communicated to me through Abeken, to publish the contents of the telegram; and in the presence of my two guests I reduced the telegram by striking out words, but without adding or altering, to the following form : `After the news of the renunciation of the hereditary Prince of Hohenzollern had been officially communicated to the imperial government of France by the royal government of Spain, the French ambassador at Ems further demanded of his Majesty the King that he would authorise him to telegraph to Paris that his Majesty the King bound himself for all future time never again to give his consent if the Hohenzollerns should renew their candidature.”
― Otto von Bismarck, Bismarck: The Man & the Statesman, Vol. 2

“The letter, written in the Emperor's delicate hand, over many closely written pages, spun out at great length and in a style more declamatory than his pen possessed, suggested Hamlet's words :
Whether 'tis nobler in the mind to suffer The slings and arrows of outrageous fortune, Or to take arms against a sea of troubles, And by opposing end them ?”
― Otto von Bismarck, Bismarck: The Man & the Statesman, Vol. 2

“Criticism can only be exercised through the medium of a free press and parliaments in the modern sense of the term. Both correctives may easily weaken, and finally lose their efficacy if they abuse their powers. To avert this is one of the tasks of a conservative policy, which cannot be accomplished without a struggle with parliament and press.”
― Otto von Bismarck, Bismarck: The Man & the Statesman, Vol. 2

“Moreover, I still hold that the principle of universal suffrage is a just one, not only in theory but also in practice, provided
always that voting be not secret, for secrecy is a quality that is indeed incompatible with the best characteristics of German blood.”
― Otto von Bismarck, Bismarck: The Man & the Statesman, Vol. 2

“I took it as assured that war with France would necessarily have to be waged on the road to our further national development, for our development at home as well as the extension beyond the Main, and that we must keep this eventuality in sight in all our domestic as well as in our foreign relations.”
― Otto von Bismarck, Bismarck: The Man & the Statesman, Vol. 2

“In looking back upon this situation, we have lamentable proof of the degree of dishonesty and cosmopolitanism to which political parties with us attained when actuated by party hatred. Something similar may have happened elsewhere; but I know of no other country where
the universal national feeling and love for the whole Fatherland offered so little resistance to the excesses of party passion as with us.”
― Otto von Bismarck, Bismarck: The Man & the Statesman, Vol. 2