"I do not comprehend with what right we acknowledge the commands of Christianity as binding upon our private dealings, and yet in the most important sphere of our duty—participation in the legislation of a country having a population of forty-five million people—push them into the background and say, here we need not trouble. For my part I confess openly that my belief in the consequence of our revealed religion, in the form of moral law, is sufficient for me, and certainly for the position taken up on this question by the Emperor, and that the question of the Christian or non-Christian State has nothing to do with the matter. I, the minister of the State, am a Christian, and as such I am determined to act as I believe I am justified before God."
Quote Details
Added by wikiquote-import-bot
Unverified quote
0 likes
Military leaders from GermanyPrussiansChancellors of GermanyGerman foreign ministersMinisters of Germany
Original Language: English
Available Languages (1)
Sources
Speech to the Reichstag (9 January 1882), quoted in W. H. Dawson, Bismarck and State Socialism: An Exposition of the Social and Economic Legislation of Germany since 1870 (1891), p. 24
https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Otto_von_Bismarck
Revision History
No revisions have been submitted for this quote.
Categories
Related Quotes
"Der König herrscht aber regiert nicht."
"Die Politik ist keine exakte Wissenschaft."
"I ask you what right had I to close the way to the throne against these people? The kings of Prussia have never been …"
"I shall soon be compelled to undertake the conduct of the Prussian Government. My first care will be to reorganise th…"
"I grant that I am full of prejudices; I sucked them in with my mother's milk, and I cannot possibly argue them away."
"Nicht durch Reden und Majoritätsbeschlüsse werden die großen Fragen der Zeit entschieden — daß ist der große Fehler v…"
"Faust complains of having two souls in his breast. I have a whole squabbling crowd. It goes on as in a republic."
"The social insecurity of the worker is the real cause of their being a peril to the state."
"I am of opinion that the idea of the Christian State is as old as the ci-devant Holy Roman Empire, as old as all the …"
"Only a country's most vital interests justify its embarking on war. ... Aye, I made the war of 1866, fulfilling my ha…"