"Only a fool learns from his own mistakes. The wise man learns from the mistakes of others."
"I do not regard the procuring of peace as a matter in which we should play the role of arbiter between different opinions ... more that of an honest broker who really wants to press the business forward."
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Source: Speech to the Reichstag, 19 February 1878, in Ludwig Hahn (ed.) 'Fürst Bismarck. Sein politisches Leben und Wirken' vol. 3 (1881) p. 90
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