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Otto von Bismarck
56 quotes
“I am of opinion that the idea of the Christian State is as old as the ci-devant Holy Roman Empire, as old as all the European States, that it is the soil in which these States have taken root, and that a State, if it would have an assured permanence, if it would only justify its existence, when it is disputed, must stand on a religious foundation. ... I believe I am right in calling that State a Christian State which seeks to realise the teaching of Christianity.”
Otto von Bismarck (1815–1898) first seen 1847 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Speech to the Prussian United Diet (15 June 1847), quoted in W. H. Dawson, Bismarck and State Socialism: An Exposition of the Social and Economic Legislation of Germany since 1870 (1891), pp. 23–24
“I grant that I am full of prejudices; I sucked them in with my mother's milk, and I cannot possibly argue them away.”
Otto von Bismarck (1815–1898) first seen 1847 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Speech to the Prussian United Diet (15 June 1847), quoted in W. H. Dawson, Bismarck and State Socialism: An Exposition of the Social and Economic Legislation of Germany since 1870 (1891), p. 27
“The social insecurity of the worker is the real cause of their being a peril to the state.”
Otto von Bismarck (1815–1898) first seen 1849 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Speech to the Landtag (18 October 1849), quoted in Henry E. Sigerist, 'From Bismarck to Beveridge: Developments and Trends in Social Security Legislation', Journal of Public Health Policy, Vol. 20, No. 4 (1999), p. 484
“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.”
Otto von Bismarck (1815–1898) first seen 1840 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Letter to his sister Malwine (26/14 March 1861), published in Bismarck-Briefe (Second edition Göttingen 1955), edited by Hans Rothfels, p. 276; as quoted in Hajo Holborn: A History of Modern Germany 1840-1945 (1969), p.…
“I shall soon be compelled to undertake the conduct of the Prussian Government. My first care will be to reorganise the army, with or without the help of the Landtag. ... As soon as the army shall have been brought into such a condition as to inspire respect, I shall seize the first best pretext to declare war against Austria, dissolve the German Diet, subdue the minor States, and give national unity to Germany under Prussian leadership. I have come here to say this to the Queen's Ministers.”
Otto von Bismarck (1815–1898) first seen 1860 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Remarks to Benjamin Disraeli (1862), quoted in William Flavelle Monypenny and George Earle Buckle, The Life of Benjamin Disraeli, Earl of Beaconsfield. Volume II: 1860–1881 (1929), p. 75
“Nicht durch Reden und Majoritätsbeschlüsse werden die großen Fragen der Zeit entschieden — daß ist der große Fehler von 1848 und 1849 gewesen — sondern durch Eisen und Blut.”
Otto von Bismarck (1815–1898) first seen 1848 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: 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.
“Die Politik ist keine exakte Wissenschaft.”
Otto von Bismarck (1815–1898) first seen 1863 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Speech to Prussian upper house (18 December 1863)
“Faust complains of having two souls in his breast. I have a whole squabbling crowd. It goes on as in a republic.”
Otto von Bismarck (1815–1898) said by 1898 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: 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 e…
“Only a country's most vital interests justify its embarking on war. ... Aye, I made the war of 1866, fulfilling my harsh duty with a heavy heart, because without it the nation would have bogged down politically, soon to fall prey to avaricious neighbors; and if we stood in the same place where then we stood, I should resolutely make war again. Never, you may be sure, shall I counsel His Majesty to wage war unless the innermost interests of the fatherland request it.”
Otto von Bismarck (1815–1898) first seen 1740 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Speech during the Luxembourg Crisis (1867), quoted in Gerhard Ritter, The Sword and the Sceptre: The Problem of Militarism in Germany, Volume I: The Prussian Tradition, 1740–1890 (1972), p. 244
“Mein lieber Professor, ein solcher Krieg hätte uns wenigstens 30,000 Mann brave Soldaten gekostet, und uns im besten Falle keinen Gewinn gebracht. Wer aber nur ein Mal in das brechende Auge eines sterbenden Kriegers auf dem Schlachtfeld geblickt hat, der besinnt sich, bevor er einen Krieg anfängt.”
Otto von Bismarck (1815–1898) first seen 1867 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Remarks of June 1867 defending provisions of the Treaty of London (11 May 1867), as quoted in Prince Bismarck : A Biographical Sketch (1875) by Wilhelm Görlach, p. 13; prior to these remarks he is quoted as having said:…
“Die Politik ist die Lehre vom Möglichen.”
Otto von Bismarck (1815–1898) first seen 1867 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Interview (11 August 1867) with Friedrich Meyer von Waldeck of the : Aus den Erinnerungen eines russischen Publicisten. 2. Ein Stündchen beim Kanzler des norddeutschen Bundes. In: Die Gartenlaube (1876) p. 858 de.wikiso…
“A conquering army on the border will not be stopped by eloquence.”
Otto von Bismarck (1815–1898) first seen 1867 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Speech to North German Reichstag (24 September 1867)
“Setzen wir Deutschland, so zu sagen, in den Sattel! Reiten wird es schon können.”
Otto von Bismarck (1815–1898) first seen 1867 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Speech to Parliament of Confederation (1867)
“The politician has not to revenge what has happened but to ensure that it does not happen again.”
Otto von Bismarck (1815–1898) first seen 1867 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: In 1867, following public criticism of courtesy shown to the defeated Napoleon III after the battle of Sedan, as quoted in A. J. P. Taylor, Bismarck: The Man and the Statesman (1955), p. 115. Also quoted in Oxford Dicti…
“Wer den Daumen auf dem Beutel hat, der hat die Macht.”
Otto von Bismarck (1815–1898) first seen 1017 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Speech to North German Reichstag (21 May 1869), Stenographische Berichte p. 1017 (left)
“Seien Sie außer Sorge, nach Kanossa gehen wir nicht, weder körperlich noch geistig.”
Otto von Bismarck (1815–1898) first seen 1872 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Speech to the Reichstag (14 May 1872), Ausgewählte Reden des Fürsten von Bismarck: p. 176, referring to the controversy over the Imperial envoy to the Holy See, Prince Hohenlohe, who had been rejected by Pope Pius IX, w…
“Preventive war is like committing suicide for fear of death.”
Otto von Bismarck (1815–1898) first seen 1329 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Quoted as a remark of Bismark without quotation marks, in Thinking About the Unthinkable in the 1980s (1984) by , p. 136, a paraphrase of what Bismarck told the Reichstag on Feb. 9, 1876. Referring to March 1875, when t…
“I see in the whole no interest for Germany which would be worth even [...] the healthy bones of a single Pomeranian musketeer. Speech to the Reichstag 5 December 1876”
Otto von Bismarck (1815–1898) said by 1898 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“There is no doubt, however, that I have caused unhappiness to great numbers. But for me three great wars would not have taken place, eighty thousand men would not have been killed and would not now be mourned by parents, brothers, sisters, and widows. [...] I have settled that with God, however. But I have had little if any pleasure from all that I have done, while on the other hand I have had a great deal of worry, anxiety, and trouble.”
Otto von Bismarck (1815–1898) first seen 1877 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Spoken on 21 October 1877, according to Moritz Busch in Bismarck: Some Secret Pages of His History, Volume II This quote is preceded by Moritz stating that Bismarck "complained to us that he had had little pleasure or s…
“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.”
Otto von Bismarck (1815–1898) first seen 1877 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: 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;…
“I will further every endeavour which positively aims at improving the condition of the working classes. ... As soon as a positive proposal came from the Socialists for fashioning the future in a sensible way, in order that the lot of the working-man might be improved, I would not at any rate refuse to examine it favourably, and I would not even shrink from the idea of State help for the people who would help themselves.”
Otto von Bismarck (1815–1898) first seen 1870 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Speech to the Reichstag (9 October 1878), quoted in W. H. Dawson, Bismarck and State Socialism: An Exposition of the Social and Economic Legislation of Germany since 1870 (1891), p. 45
“Der alte Jude, das ist der Mann.”
Otto von Bismarck (1815–1898) first seen 1879 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: A conversation in 1879 on who was the centre of gravity at the Congress of Berlin, referring to Benjamin Disraeli, as quoted in Seven Great Statesmen in the Warfare of Humanity with Unreason (1912) by Andrew Dickson Whi…
“In the development of our tariff I am determined to oppose any modification in the direction of Free Trade, and to use my influence in favour of greater protection and of a higher revenue from frontier duties.”
Otto von Bismarck (1815–1898) first seen 1870 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Speech to the Reichstag (28 March 1881), quoted in W. H. Dawson, Bismarck and State Socialism: An Exposition of the Social and Economic Legislation of Germany since 1870 (1891), p. 54
“I should like to see the State, which for the most part consists of Christians—although you reject the name Christian State—penetrated to some extent by the principles of the religion it professes; especially as concerns the help one gives to his neighbour, and sympathy with the lot of old and suffering people.”
Otto von Bismarck (1815–1898) first seen 1870 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Speech to the Reichstag (2 April 1881), quoted in W. H. Dawson, Bismarck and State Socialism: An Exposition of the Social and Economic Legislation of Germany since 1870 (1891), p. 24
“I am not antagonistic to the rightful claims of capital; I am far from wanting to flourish a hostile flag; but I am of opinion that the masses, too, have rights which should be considered.”
Otto von Bismarck (1815–1898) first seen 1870 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Speech to the Reichstag (14 June 1882), quoted in W. H. Dawson, Bismarck and State Socialism: An Exposition of the Social and Economic Legislation of Germany since 1870 (1891), p. 32
“Wir Deutsche fürchten Gott, aber sonst nichts in der Welt - und die Gottesfurcht ist es schon, die uns den Frieden lieben und pflegen lässt.”
Otto von Bismarck (1815–1898) first seen 1887 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Speech to the Reichstag (6 February 1888) reichstagsprotokolle.de 1887/88,2 p. 733 (D)
“Your map of Africa is really quite nice. But my map of Africa lies in Europe. Here is Russia, and here... is France, and we're in the middle — that's my map of Africa.”
Otto von Bismarck (1815–1898) first seen 1888 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Discussing the with Eugen Wolf on 5 December 1888
“It was not then possible to forecast with certainty whether and how long the Czar's friendship would remain a realisable political asset. In any case, however, simple common sense enjoined us not to let it fall into the possession of our enemies, whom we might discern in the Poles, the philo-Polish Russians, and, ultimately, probably in the French.”
Otto von Bismarck (1815–1898) said by 1898 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“An agreement between Russia and the German foe of for joint action, military and political, against the Polish ‘Bruderstamm’ movement was a decisive blow to the views of the philo-Polish party at the Russian court. ... The convention said ‘checkmate’ in the game which anti-Polish monarchism was then playing against philo-Polish Panslavism within the Russian cabinet.”
Otto von Bismarck (1815–1898) said by 1898 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Austria was no more in the wrong in opposing our claims than we were in making them.”
Otto von Bismarck (1815–1898) said by 1898 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: As quoted in A. J. P. Taylor, Bismarck: The Man and the Statesman (1955), p. 87
“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.”
Otto von Bismarck (1815–1898) said by 1898 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: As quoted in A. J. P. Taylor, Bismarck: The Man and the Statesman (1955), p. 115
“I have always found the word Europe on the lips of those politicians who wanted something from other Powers which they dared not demand in their own names.”
Otto von Bismarck (1815–1898) said by 1898 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: As quoted in A. J. P. Taylor, Bismarck: The Man and the Statesman (1955), p. 167
“Struggle is everywhere, without struggle no life, and if we want to go on living, we must be ready for further struggles.”
Otto von Bismarck (1815–1898) said by 1898 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: As quoted in A. J. P. Taylor, Bismarck: The Man and the Statesman (1955), p. 203
“I have never judged international disputes by the standards which prevail at a student's duel.”
Otto von Bismarck (1815–1898) said by 1898 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: As quoted in A. J. P. Taylor, Bismarck: The Man and the Statesman (1955), p. 228
“In the domain of political economy the abstract doctrines of science leave me perfectly cold, my only standard of judgment being experience.”
Otto von Bismarck (1815–1898) first seen 1870 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: As quoted in W. H. Dawson, Bismarck and State Socialism: An Exposition of the Social and Economic Legislation of Germany since 1870 (1891), p. 54
“If we really came to a position in which we could no longer produce the grain which we must necessarily consume, then in what state would we be if in wartime we had no Russian grain imports and perhaps simultaneously were blockaded along our coasts – in other words, if we had no grain at all?”
Otto von Bismarck (1815–1898) first seen 1860 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Speech to the Reichstag advocating protective tariffs, quoted in Paul Kennedy, The Rise of the Anglo-German Antagonism, 1860–1914 (1980), p. 51
“Concerning the blunders which had been made in our foreign policy public opinion is, as a rule, first enlightened when it is in a position to look back upon the history of a generation, and the Achivi qui plectuntur are not always immediately contemporary with the mistaken actions.”
Otto von Bismarck (1815–1898) said by 1898 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Every state must be aware that its peace, its security rests on its own sword.”
Otto von Bismarck (1815–1898) first seen 1821 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: All the King's Men' A search for the colonial ideas of some advisers and "accomplices" of Leopold II (1853-1892). (Hannes Vanhauwaert), 5. A prospectus by the military Chazal and Brialmont, The military centipede Henri-…
“I ask you what right had I to close the way to the throne against these people? The kings of Prussia have never been by preference kings of the rich. Frederick the Great said when Crown Prince: “Quand je serai roi, je serai un vrai roi des gueux.” He undertook to be the protector of the poor, and this principle has been followed by our later kings. At their throne suffering has always found a refuge and a hearing. ... Our kings have secured the emancipation of the serfs, they have created a thriving peasantry, and they may possibly be successful—the earnest endeavour exists, at any rate—in improving the condition of the working classes somewhat. To have refused access to the throne to the complaints of these operatives would not have been the right course to pursue, and it was, moreover, not my business to do it. The question would afterwards have been asked: “How rich must a deputation be in order to its reception by the King?”
Otto von Bismarck (1815–1898) first seen 1865 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Speech to the Prussian United Diet in answer to the petition of Wüstegiersdorf weavers (1865), quoted in W. H. Dawson, Bismarck and State Socialism: An Exposition of the Social and Economic Legislation of Germany since …
“I leave undecided the question whether complete mutual freedom of international commerce, such as is contemplated by the theory of Free Trade, would not serve the interests of Germany. But as long as most of the countries with which our trade is carried on surround themselves with customs barriers...it does not seem to me justifiable, or to the economic interest of the nation, that we should allow ourselves to be restricted in the satisfaction of our financial wants by the apprehension that German products will thereby be slightly preferred to foreign ones. ... The minority of the population, which does not produce at all, but exclusively consumes, will apparently be injured by a customs system favouring the entire national production. Yet if by means of such a system the aggregate sum of the values produced in the country increase, and thus the national wealth be on the whole enhanced, the non-producing parts of the population...will eventually be benefited.”
Otto von Bismarck (1815–1898) first seen 1878 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Letter to the Bundesrath committee on tariff revision (15 December 1878), quoted in Percy Ashley, Modern Tariff History: Germany–United States–France [1904] (1970), pp. 45–46
“In all these questions [of economics] I pay as little regard to science as I do in any other judgment of organic institutions. Our surgery has made splendid progress during the last two thousand years; but medical science has made no progress in regard to the internal conditions of the body, into which the human eye cannot see, and here we stand face to face with the same riddles as before. So it is with the organic formation of States. In this respect the abstract doctrines of science do not influence me: I judge according to the experience which we have. I see that the countries which protect themselves prosper, that the countries which are open are declining, and that great and powerful England, that strong combatant, who, after strengthening her muscles, entered the market and said: “Who will contest with me? I am ready for any one,” is gradually going back to protective duties, and will in a few years adopt them so far as is necessary to preserving at least the English market.”
Otto von Bismarck (1815–1898) first seen 1870 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Speech to the Reichstag (2 May 1879), quoted in W. H. Dawson, Bismarck and State Socialism: An Exposition of the Social and Economic Legislation of Germany since 1870 (1891), p. 27
“Let us close our doors and erect somewhat higher barriers and let us thus take care to preserve at least the German market to German industry. The chances of a large export trade are nowadays exceedingly precarious. There are now no more great countries to discover. The globe is circumnavigated, and we can no longer find any large purchasing nations. Commercial treaties, it is true, are under certain circumstances favourable to foreign trade; but whenever a treaty is concluded, it is a question of Qui trompe-t-on ici?—who is taken in? As a rule one of the parties is, but only after a number of years is it known which one.”
Otto von Bismarck (1815–1898) first seen 1870 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Speech to the Reichstag (2 May 1879), quoted in W. H. Dawson, Bismarck and State Socialism: An Exposition of the Social and Economic Legislation of Germany since 1870 (1891), p. 52
“For me there has been but one compass, one pole-star, after which I have steered: Salus publica. Since I entered public life I have often, perhaps, acted rashly and imprudently. But when I have had time for reflection I have always been guided by the question,—what is most beneficial, most expedient, and proper for my dynasty so long as I was only in Prussia, and nowadays for the German nation? I have never in my life been doctrinaire. All systems by which parties are divided and bound together are of secondary moment to me. My first thought is of the nation, its position abroad, its independence, our organisation in such a way that we may breathe freely in the world.”
Otto von Bismarck (1815–1898) first seen 1870 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Speech to the Reichstag (24 February 1881), quoted in W. H. Dawson, Bismarck and State Socialism: An Exposition of the Social and Economic Legislation of Germany since 1870 (1891), p. 25
“I do not comprehend with what right we acknowledge the commands of Christianity as binding upon our private dealings, and yet in the most important sphere of our duty—participation in the legislation of a country having a population of forty-five million people—push them into the background and say, here we need not trouble. For my part I confess openly that my belief in the consequence of our revealed religion, in the form of moral law, is sufficient for me, and certainly for the position taken up on this question by the Emperor, and that the question of the Christian or non-Christian State has nothing to do with the matter. I, the minister of the State, am a Christian, and as such I am determined to act as I believe I am justified before God.”
Otto von Bismarck (1815–1898) first seen 1870 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Speech to the Reichstag (9 January 1882), quoted in W. H. Dawson, Bismarck and State Socialism: An Exposition of the Social and Economic Legislation of Germany since 1870 (1891), p. 24
“Many measures which we have adopted to the great blessing of the country are Socialistic, and the State will have to accustom itself to a little more Socialism yet. ... I am glad that this Socialism was adopted, for we have as a consequence secured a free and very well-to-do peasantry, and I hope that we shall in time do something of the sort for the labouring classes. ... The establishment of the freedom of the peasantry was Socialistic; Socialistic, too, is every expropriation in favour of railways; Socialistic to the utmost extent is the aggregation of estates—the law exists in many provinces—taking from one and giving to another, simply because this other can cultivate the land more conveniently; Socialistic is expropriation under the Water Legislation, on account of irrigation, etc., where a man's land is taken away from him because another can farm it better; Socialistic is our entire poor relief, compulsory school attendance, compulsory construction of roads, so that I am bound to maintain a road upon my lands for travellers. That is all Socialistic, and I could extend the register further; but if you believe that you can frighten any one or call up spectres with the word “Socialism,” you take a standpoint which I abandoned long ago, and the abandonment of which is absolutely necessary for our entire imperial legislation.”
Otto von Bismarck (1815–1898) first seen 1870 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Speech to the Reichstag (1882), quoted in W. H. Dawson, Bismarck and State Socialism: An Exposition of the Social and Economic Legislation of Germany since 1870 (1891), pp. 63–64
“The whole matter centres in the question, Is it the duty of the State, or is it not, to provide for its helpless citizens? I maintain that it is its duty, that it is the duty not only of the “Christian State,” as I ventured once to call it when speaking of “practical Christianity,” but of every State. It would be foolish for a corporation to undertake matters which the individual can attend to alone; and similarly the purposes which the parish can fulfil with justice and with advantage are left to the parish. But there are purposes which only the State as a whole can fulfil. To these belong national defence, the general system of communications, and, indeed, everything spoken of in article 4 of the constitution. To these, too, belong the help of the necessitous and the removal of those just complaints which provide Social Democracy with really effective material for agitation. This is a duty of the State, a duty which the State cannot permanently disregard.”
Otto von Bismarck (1815–1898) first seen 1870 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Speech to the Reichstag on the Accident Insurance Bill (15 March 1884), quoted in W. H. Dawson, Bismarck and State Socialism: An Exposition of the Social and Economic Legislation of Germany since 1870 (1891), p. 118
“If an establishment employing twenty thousand or more workpeople were to be ruined...we could not allow these men to hunger. We should have to resort to real State Socialism and find work for them, and this is what we do in every case of distress. If the objection were right that we should shun State Socialism as we would an infectious disease, how do we come to organise works in one province and another in case of distress—works which we should not undertake if the labourers had employment and wages? In such cases we build railways whose profitableness is questionable; we carry out improvements which otherwise would be left to private initiative. If that is Communism, I have no objection at all to it; though with such catchwords we really get no further.”
Otto von Bismarck (1815–1898) first seen 1870 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Speech to the Reichstag on the Accident Insurance Bill (May 1884), quoted in W. H. Dawson, Bismarck and State Socialism: An Exposition of the Social and Economic Legislation of Germany since 1870 (1891), p. 119
“Give the working-man the right to work as long as he is healthy, assure him care when he is sick; assure him maintenance when he is old. If you do that, and do not fear the sacrifice, or cry out at State Socialism directly the words “provision for old age” are uttered,—if the State will show a little more Christian solicitude for the working-man, then I believe that the gentlemen of the Wyden (Social-Democratic) programme will sound their bird-call in vain, and that the thronging to them will cease as soon as working-men see that the Government and legislative bodies are earnestly concerned for their welfare.”
Otto von Bismarck (1815–1898) first seen 1870 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Speech to the Reichstag (9 May 1884), quoted in W. H. Dawson, Bismarck and State Socialism: An Exposition of the Social and Economic Legislation of Germany since 1870 (1891), pp. 34–35
“Peasants and large landed proprietors recognise more and more that they form one and the same class, the class of land-owners, and follow one and the same industry of agriculture. ... The land-owners are, on the whole, a support of the monarchy, and their entire disposition is favourable to the existing Government; and you try to sow discord amongst them because you are displeased that the unification is proceeding gradually and unceasingly. This is the salutary effect of legislation which at first was painfully felt by many of the privileged class: the abolition of all the legal and axiomatic prerogatives of the greatest land proprietors, and especially of the earlier knighthood. We larger land-owners are in our industry to-day nothing more than the largest peasants, and the peasant is nothing more than the smaller land-owner. Indeed, most peasants call themselves land-owners, while some call themselves husbandmen and others countrymen.”
Otto von Bismarck (1815–1898) first seen 1870 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Speech to the Reichstag (16 February 1885), quoted in W. H. Dawson, Bismarck and State Socialism: An Exposition of the Social and Economic Legislation of Germany since 1870 (1891), pp. 33–34
“The German who is still free from all Slav or Celtic alloy has a distinctive character and vies with all his equals. When he is allied with other races, provided he has the necessary patience and endurance he always succeeds in becoming, the chief, the directing will, as the husband must be in a household. I have no desire to offend the Slavs, but it is very necessary to recognise that their character has much of the feminine in it: they have charm, intelligence, artifice, address, and often the Germans appear heavy and clumsy beside them. But we always carry the day, and that is why I would like to say to you: when you are doing business with your Slav rivals, even at moments of the most violent anger and in the most critical situations, always retain the profound conviction, the most profound but secret conviction, that you are fundamentally their superiors, and that you always will be so.”
Otto von Bismarck (1815–1898) first seen 1895 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Speech to a Deputation from Styria (15 April 1895), quoted in W. W. Coole (ed.), Thus Spake Germany (1941), p. 104