Otto Von Bismarck

Love is blind; friendship tries not to notice.

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

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

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

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

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.

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

One can put some trust in the gratitude of a sovereign, and also in that of his family; under certain conditions, one can even rely upon it; but one can never expect anything from the gratitude of a nation.

Fools learn from experience. I prefer to learn from the experience of others.