"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."

"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."

"The Americans are a very lucky people. They're bordered to the north and south by weak neighbours, and to the east and west by fish."

"The best way to unite Germany is to give them a common enemy."

"Take away the Reichstag and the Prussian Landtag, and Bismarck would feel much more at home."