Person

Otto von Bismarck

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Overview

Otto Eduard Leopold, Prince of Bismarck, Count of Bismarck-Schönhausen, Duke of Lauenburg, was a German statesman and diplomat who oversaw the unification of Germany and served as its first chancellor from 1871 to 1890. Bismarck's Realpolitik and firm governance earned him the nickname Iron Chancellor.

From Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0).

Notable quotes

“Haut doch die Polen, daß sie am Leben verzagen; ich habe alles Mitgefühl für ihre Lage, aber wir können, wenn wir bestehn wollen, nichts andres tun, als sie ausrotten; der Wolf kann auch nicht dafür, daß er von Gott geschaffen ist, wie er ist, und man schießt ihn doch dafür totd, wenn man kann.”
— Hit the Poles so hard that they despair of their life; I have full sympathy with their condition, but if we want to survive, we can only exterminate them; the wolf, too, cannot help having been created by God as he is, but people shoot him for it if they can.
“Faust complains of having two souls in his breast. I have a whole squabbling crowd. It goes on as in a republic.”
— As quoted in (1955) by A. J. P. Taylor, p. 12.  Cf. Goethe, Faust, Part I: Zwei Seelen wohnen, ach! in meiner Brust, / Die eine will sich von der andern trennen ("Two souls, alas! reside within my breast, / and each is eager for a separation").
“A conquering army on the border will not be stopped by eloquence.”
— Speech to North German Reichstag (24 September 1867)
“Seien Sie außer Sorge, nach Kanossa gehen wir nicht, weder körperlich noch geistig.”
— Be assured, we shall not go to Canossa, either bodily or spiritually.
“They treat me like a fox, a cunning fellow (Schlaukopf) of the first rank. But the truth is that with a gentleman I am always a gentleman and a half, and when I have to do with a pirate, I try to be a pirate and a half.”
— Talking to Gyula Andrássy in Salzburg on 18 September 1877. As quoted in Disraeli, Gladstone, and the Eastern Question. A Study in Diplomacy and Party Politics (1935) by Robert William Seton-Watson, p. 224 books.google; "Schlaukopf" is translated elsewhere as "clever dick" or "smart aleck."
“A statesman cannot create anything himself. He must wait and listen until he hears the steps of God sounding through events; then leap up and grasp the hem of His garment.”
— As quoted in A. J. P. Taylor, Bismarck: The Man and the Statesman (1955), p. 115

Quotes via Wikiquote (CC BY-SA), each with its original source.

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Overview

Otto Eduard Leopold, Prince of Bismarck, Count of Bismarck-Schönhausen, Duke of Lauenburg, was a German statesman and diplomat who oversaw the unification of Germany and served as its first chancellor from 1871 to 1890. Bismarck's Realpolitik and firm governance earned him the nickname Iron Chancellor.

From Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0).

Notable quotes

“Haut doch die Polen, daß sie am Leben verzagen; ich habe alles Mitgefühl für ihre Lage, aber wir können, wenn wir bestehn wollen, nichts andres tun, als sie ausrotten; der Wolf kann auch nicht dafür, daß er von Gott geschaffen ist, wie er ist, und man schießt ihn doch dafür totd, wenn man kann.”
— Hit the Poles so hard that they despair of their life; I have full sympathy with their condition, but if we want to survive, we can only exterminate them; the wolf, too, cannot help having been created by God as he is, but people shoot him for it if they can.
“Faust complains of having two souls in his breast. I have a whole squabbling crowd. It goes on as in a republic.”
— As quoted in (1955) by A. J. P. Taylor, p. 12.  Cf. Goethe, Faust, Part I: Zwei Seelen wohnen, ach! in meiner Brust, / Die eine will sich von der andern trennen ("Two souls, alas! reside within my breast, / and each is eager for a separation").
“A conquering army on the border will not be stopped by eloquence.”
— Speech to North German Reichstag (24 September 1867)
“Seien Sie außer Sorge, nach Kanossa gehen wir nicht, weder körperlich noch geistig.”
— Be assured, we shall not go to Canossa, either bodily or spiritually.
“They treat me like a fox, a cunning fellow (Schlaukopf) of the first rank. But the truth is that with a gentleman I am always a gentleman and a half, and when I have to do with a pirate, I try to be a pirate and a half.”
— Talking to Gyula Andrássy in Salzburg on 18 September 1877. As quoted in Disraeli, Gladstone, and the Eastern Question. A Study in Diplomacy and Party Politics (1935) by Robert William Seton-Watson, p. 224 books.google; "Schlaukopf" is translated elsewhere as "clever dick" or "smart aleck."
“A statesman cannot create anything himself. He must wait and listen until he hears the steps of God sounding through events; then leap up and grasp the hem of His garment.”
— As quoted in A. J. P. Taylor, Bismarck: The Man and the Statesman (1955), p. 115

Quotes via Wikiquote (CC BY-SA), each with its original source.