"The only sound basis of a large state is self-interest, not sentimentality."

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

"The states of the world are not governed by principles, but by interests."

"The secret of politics? Make a good treaty with Russia."

"Politics is not a science to be learned, it is an art, and he who cannot do it had better stay away from it."