The great issues of the day are not decided through speeches and majority resolutions — that was the great error of 1848 and 1849 — but through blood and iron.
[Nicht durch Reden und Majoritätsbeschlüsse werden die großen Fragen der Zeit entschieden -- das ist der große Fehler von 1848 und 1849 gewesen -- sondern durch Eisen und Blut.]
Otto von Bismark (1815-1898) Prussian statesman
Speech, Budget Commission of the Prussian Diet (30 Sep 1862)
Alternate translations :
- "It is not by speeches and majority vote that the great questions of our time will be decided — as that was error of 1848 and 1849 — but rather by iron and blood."
- "The great questions of the time are not decided by speeches and majority decisions — that was the error of 1848 and 1849 — but by iron and blood."
- "The great issues of the day are not decided through speeches and majority resolutions — that was the great error of 1848 and 1849 — but through blood and iron."
- "The great issues of the day are not decided through speeches and majority resolutions — that was the great error of 1848 and 1849 — but through blood and iron."
- "The great questions of the day will not be decided by speeches and the resolutions of majorities — that was the great mistake from 1848 to 1849 — but by blood and iron."
- "The great questions of the day will not be settled by means of speeches and majority decisions ... but by iron and blood."
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