“I have a burden on my soul. During my long life, I did not make anyone happy, neither my friends, nor my family, nor even myself. I have done many evil things...I was the cause of the beginning of three big wars. About 800,000 people were killed because of me on the battlefields., and their mothers, brothers, and widows cried for them. And now this stands between me and God.”

“Faust complained about having two souls in his breast, but I harbor a whole crowd of them and they quarrel. It is like being in a republic.”

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

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

“Be polite; write diplomatically; even in a declaration of war one observes the rules of politeness.”

“If there is ever another war in Europe, it will come out of some damned silly thing in the Balkans.”

“One day the great European War will come out of some damned foolish thing in the Balkans (1888).”