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 Bismarck (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."