Pithy sayings by none other than Otto von Bismarck
Otto von Bismarck certainly had a way with words.
“Never believe anything in politics until it has been officially denied.”
“God has a special providence for fools, drunkards, and the United States of America.” (I’d heard that one many times, but had forgotten it was von Bismarck who said it.)
“Preventive war is like committing suicide out of fear of death.”
“One day the great European War will come out of some damned foolish thing in the Balkans.”
“What we learn from History is that no one learns from History.”
Well, not no one. A few people do learn from history. But they usually are not in charge of making the history that follows, and can only sit helplessly by and watch it and/or be victimized by it.
What “History” in the final quote — twice written with capital “H” — is Bismarck alluding to here? Seems to me (and I certainly don’t know) the necessary ambiguity between “history” and “History” in the aftermath of the all-conquering GWF Hegel has to play some role in our attempt at any interpretation of O von B, so I’m left with a puzzle: a puzzle which may be resolved by a bit of context even, I guess.
“Never believe anything in politics until it has been officially denied.”
I love it. Do non denial denials count?
“Otto von Bismarck quotes” says the header of the “Brainy Quote” page.
And “Related Authors” it says, page bottom, listing these:
Marcus Aurelius, Martin Luther King Jr., Buddha, Alexander the Great, Mahatma Gandhi, Jesus Christ [jaysus, murray and jonesy on a pogo stick], Dalai Lama [shades of Caddyshack pass before our eyes], and last but most beautifully striking, Margaret Thatcher.
Related!
Oy gevalt, whadda lineup.
Only if they are plausible.
At this point what difference does it make? – HRC
Because the implausible non denial denial is just too perfunctory.
Arguably, the foremost geo-strategic mind of his generation.
A clear sighted practioner of real politik in the age of Europe’s Great Power politics.
sdferr:
Germans capitalize just about everything. Nouns, anyway.
Leaders do learn, at least implicitly, that one does NOT become a leader thru fear of repeating mistakes of history.
The optimistic & aggressive & overconfident become leaders, and, if successful, gain followers. “This time it’s different” – and each moment in time IS different. Yet the incentives remain similar, and results all too often are similarly negative at some point.
But history shows that negative point comes after multiple success points for the leader.
If it hasn’t been done, but it can be done, it takes lots of trials, work, and failures to achieve it.
Flying.
Going to the Moon.
Curing cancer.
Building great buildings or organizations.
Making people better — this one is the one that history shows leads leaders to failure.
Will “this time” be different?
Don’t Bet On It.
(Is hope OK?
Is it really “better”?)
Yes neo, they do. There’s still a thing there though, I think. History with Hegel’s capital H sense comes to replace Providence itself, if not God as such. It might just be a big deal from O von B’s point of view.
Field Marshal Ferdinand Foch on the Treaty of Versailles: “This in not peace. It is an armistice for twenty years.”
Pretty prescient…..but then he also said this:
“Airplanes are interesting toys, but of no military value.”
Whoops. Whiffed on that one……
The problem is german philosophy which starts with kant who didnt believe in inalienable rights which comes into american politics through wilson has helped corrupt the country
One of the earliest recordings (1889) is of Bismarck. He also held Benjamin Disraeli in great respect: “The old Jew, he is the man.” It actually sounds better in German 🙂
Since we’re talking about people with great quotes I was going to quote Frederic the Great with the quote
which I thought described the US strategy toward covid. However I found another one of his I like just as much
An educated people can be easily governed.
Yeah, that sounds like a lot of college graduates.
Wilson was a very Evil man.
@ BigD > Friedrich der Große had a lot of quotable maxims.
In re “learning from history” (or History), he said something similar to Bismarck: “What is the good of experience if you do not reflect?”
My personal favorite is the one he used to encourage his Hussars to attack with vigor: “Rogues, would you live forever?”
https://www.brainyquote.com/authors/frederick-the-great-quotes
According to Dick Cavett he also said” the solution to the Irish problem is to have the Irish and Dutch trade places. The Dutch would cultivate Ireland and turn it into the garden of Europe. The Irish, on the other hand, would neglect the dikes and drown themselves.”
You missed the absolute best-ever quote of his:
“Fools learn from experience. I prefer to learn from the experience of others.”
— Otto von Bismarck —
It’s an overstatement, of course — fools don’t learn from experience at all, BUT, certainly, it’s better to see what others have done and the results of those actions, and to learn from those mistakes (or rewards) rather than making your own mistakes, or taking your own risks, which is his key point.
I will note that “The Irish Problem” is hardly new.
Jonathan Swift famously solved the problem in 1729:
A Modest Proposal For preventing the Children of Poor People From being a Burthen to Their Parents or Country, and For making them Beneficial to the Publick
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Modest_Proposal
“Airplanes are interesting toys, but of no military value.”
Whoops. Whiffed on that one……
No, that one, the Prescience Award went to Billy Mitchell, who got drummed out of the Army Air Force for pushing air power, and predicting — in 1925, no less — that the Japanese would attack Pearl Harbor (He actually foresaw the rise of Japan and the inevitable face-off against them as early as 1912 while touring battlefields of the Russo-Japanese war of 1905)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Billy_Mitchell
The “biographical” (as much as any films of that era were) 1955 movie, “The Court-Martial of Billy Mitchell” starred Gary Cooper and was directed by noted director Otto Preminger.