Top 90 Otto von Bismarck Quotes (2024 Update)

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

— Otto von Bismarck

2. “A bad plan that is well executed will yield much better results than a good plan that is poorly executed.”

— Otto von Bismarck

3. “History is simply a piece of paper covered with print: the main thing is to make history, not to write it.”

— Otto von Bismarck

4. “Fools learn from experience. I prefer to learn from the experience of others.”

— Otto von Bismarck

5. “When you want to fool the world, tell the truth.”

— Otto von Bismarck

6. “Never fight with Russian. On your every stratagem they answer unpredictable stupidity.”

— Otto von Bismarck

7. “God has a special providence for fools, drunks, and the United States of America.”

— Otto von Bismarck

8. “With bad laws and good civil servants it’s still possible to govern. But with bad civil servants even the best laws can’t help.”

— Otto von Bismarck

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

— Otto von Bismarck

10. “You can’t destroy the polish national-consciousness or Poles on the battlefield, but if you give them power, they will destroy themselves.”

— Otto von Bismarck

11. “The Balkans arent worth the life of a single Pomeranian grenadier.”

— Otto von Bismarck

12. “What we learn from History is that no one learns from History.”

— Otto von Bismarck

13. “It is the destiny of the weak to be devoured by the strong.”

— Otto von Bismarck

Featured in: Strong Quotes

14. “Politics is the art of the possible, the attainable – the art of the next best.”

— Otto von Bismarck

15. “Preventive war is like committing suicide out of fear of death.”

— Otto von Bismarck

16. “Great men have great dogs.”

— Otto von Bismarck

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

— Otto von Bismarck

18. “Politics are not a science based on logic; they are the capacity of always choosing at each instant, in constantly changing situations, the least harmful, the most useful.”

— Otto von Bismarck

19. “Fools you are who say you like to learn from your mistakes. I prefer to learn from the mistakes of others, and avoid the cost of my own.”

— Otto von Bismarck

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

— Otto von Bismarck

21. “A Bavarian is half-way between an Austrian and a human being.”

— Otto von Bismarck

22. “Life is like being at the dentist. You always think the worst is still to come, and it is over already.”

— Otto von Bismarck

23. “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.”

— Otto von Bismarck

24. “Vanity is a mortgage that must be deducted from the value of a man.”

— Otto von Bismarck

25. “The statesman’s task is to hear God’s footsteps marching through history, and to try and catch on to His coattails as He marches past.”

— Otto von Bismarck

26. “We live in a wondrous time in which the strong is weak because of his moral scruples and the weak grows strong because of his audacity.”

— Otto von Bismarck

Featured in: Strong Quotes

27. “This policy cannot succeed through speeches, and shooting-matches, and songs; it can only be carried out through blood and iron.”

— Otto von Bismarck

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

— Otto von Bismarck

29. “Love is blind; friendship tries not to notice.”

— Otto von Bismarck

30. “A conquering army on the border will not be stopped by eloquence.”

— Otto von Bismarck

31. “The less people know about how sausages and laws are made, the better they’ll sleep at night.”

— Otto von Bismarck

32. “A really great man is known by three signs: generosity in the design, humanity in the execution, moderation in success.”

— Otto von Bismarck

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

— Otto von Bismarck

34. “He who has his thumb on the purse has the power.”

— Otto von Bismarck

35. “I have only one ambition left: I should like to have a good epitaph.”

— Otto von Bismarck

36. “Beware of sentimental alliances where the consciousness of good deeds is the only compensation for noble sacrifices.”

— Otto von Bismarck

37. “A little caution outflanks a large cavalry.”

— Otto von Bismarck

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

— Otto von Bismarck

39. “Our German forefathers had a very kind religion. They believed that, after death, they would meet again all the good dogs that had been their companions in life. I wish I could believe that too.”

— Otto von Bismarck

40. “God always looks after the fools and – and the United States.”

— Otto von Bismarck

41. “The luxury of one’s own opinion.”

— Otto von Bismarck

42. “Life has taught me to forgive much, but to seek forgiveness still more.”

— Otto von Bismarck

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

— Otto von Bismarck

44. “Earthly majesty is always akin to the fallen angel, who is proud and unhappy, beautiful but troubled, and whose plans and efforts, though vast, are denied access.”

— Otto von Bismarck

45. “Better pointed bullets than pointed words.”

— Otto von Bismarck

46. “Politics is not a science, as the professors are apt to suppose. It is an art.”

— Otto von Bismarck

47. “My subject is my life, and my life is my subject.”

— Otto von Bismarck

48. “Not by speeches and votes of the majority, are the great questions of the time decided – that was the error of 1848 and 1849 – but by iron and blood.”

— Otto von Bismarck

49. “I have never lived on principles. When I have had to act, I never first asked myself on what principles I was going to act, but I went at it and did what I thought fit. I have often reproached myself for my want of principle.”

— Otto von Bismarck

Featured in: Firsts Quotes

50. “Politics is no exact science.”

— Otto von Bismarck